Wood v. UHS of Peachford LP

April Wood, the daughter of Sherlie Wood, sued UHS of Peachford and Dr. Guy Sommers collectively “Peachford” after her mother died while a patient at Peachford. After several sanctions for discovery abuses against plaintiff’s counsel, the trial court again admonished counsel several times during voir dire for asking questions that required the jurors to prejudge the case. Counsel ignored the judge’s instructions and continued asking the prohibited questions. The court declared a mistrial and excused the jury. Peachford then filed a motion to dismiss the case for plaintiff’s wilful and repeated violations of the court’s orders and rules. The trial court granted the motion. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the case for failure to comply with its orders, we affirm. The record shows that the trial court sanctioned Wood’s counsel several times during the discovery process. Prior to filing suit, Wood requested her mother’s chart from Peachford. In complying with that request, Peachford inadvertently included the report of Dr. Tommy Richardson, which was generated as a result of the peer review process. Peachford moved for a protective order and asked to have the document returned. The court ruled that it was a peer review document, ordered it returned, and instructed Wood that it was not to be used in the case.

Subsequently, during the deposition of Wood’s expert, Dr. Davis, Peachford’s counsel discovered that Wood had provided Davis with a copy of Richardson’s peer review report. Davis testified that he used the report in forming his opinion about the case. He also stated that he was told “not to discuss it at his deposition.” The trial court subsequently excluded Davis’s testimony. Wood designated a new expert and counsel again provided the expert with the information in the Richardson document. The trial court then excluded this expert’s testimony. Wood’s counsel was also sanctioned for filing a protective order for the sole purpose of delay and for offensive and threatening behavior toward Sommers’s counsel at a deposition.