Padron

*1248 This case presents the issue whether a superior court can impose a hefty daily monetary sanction on a party who steadfastly refuses to comply with a discovery order. Here, the court ordered Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. (Watchtower) to produce documents responsive to a specific request for production. Per the court's order, the documents would be redacted to protect certain third parties' privacy interests and produced subject to a strict confidentiality and nondisclosure order negotiated by Watchtower. In addition, the court ordered Watchtower to look for documents in files it represented, on multiple occasions, to be in its possession, custody, and/or control. Watchtower informed the court that it would not comply with the order. As such, plaintiff Osbaldo Padron brought a motion for monetary sanctions against Watchtower for its discovery abuses.

*1249 The court awarded sanctions in the amount of $4,000 per day for noncompliance with the order, and Watchtower appeals that order.

However, this is not the first time we have been asked to review a superior court's sanctions against Watchtower for discovery abuses. In Lopez v. Watchtower Bible and…