Obregon

I. Factual and Procedural History

Plaintiff and petitioner was employed at a Burger King franchise owned and operated by real party Cimm’s, Inc. (hereafter Cimm’s). Plaintiff sued Cimm’s and her former supervisor at Burger King for sexual harassment and related claims. The supervisor did not respond and his default was entered. Litigation proceeded against Cimm’s.

Plaintiff served form and special interrogatories on Cimm’s. Cimm’s served responses consisting of a mixture of factual answers and objections. Over five weeks passed without further action in this regard. Then, with approximately 13 days left before a motion to compel had to be filed, plaintiff sent a letter requesting further responses. Nine days later, Cimm’s responded by asserting essentially the same objections as Cimm’s had asserted in response to the original interrogatories. Plaintiff received Cimm’s response one day before the deadline for filing a motion to compel. In light of the short time left before the filing deadline, plaintiff filed her motion to compel without making further contact with Cimm’s. The motion came on for hearing in due course, with Cimm’s opposing on the ground that plaintiff…