Young v. Sheldon et al

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United States District Court
Northern District of California
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
JOSEPH DALE YOUNG,
Plaintiff,
v.
NICOLE SHELDON, et al.,
Defendants.
Case No. 25-cv-07838-BLF (SVK)
ORDER DEEMING REQUESTS FOR
ADMISSION ADMITTED AND
AWARDING ATTORNEYS FEES
Re: Dkt. Nos. 32, 42, 45
In March of this year, Defendants first moved to compel discovery responses from Plaintiff
and for attorneys fees associated with bringing the motion. Dkt. 32. In relevant part to this Order,
Defendants requested that each of the Defendant County’s requests for admission, set one, be
deemed admitted due to Plaintiff’s failure to provide responses and that Defendants be awarded
attorneys fees in the amount of $2,843.75. Id.; Dkt. 32-1. Plaintiff did not respond to the motion.
In light of Plaintiff’s status as an incarcerated individual, the Court ordered Defendants to re-serve
the motion to all known addresses of Plaintiff and extended the time to respond. Dkt. 33. Plaintiff
again failed to respond. Dkt. 36. The Court then granted in part and denied in part the motion,
denying the request for discovery sanctions without prejudice, and ordering Plaintiff to comply
with the order by August 3, 2026. Dkt. 40. On August 10, 2026, Defendants informed the Court
that they had received no response from Plaintiff and renewed their request for discovery
sanctions. Dkt. 42. In a final effort to ensure that all reasonable efforts had been made to ensure
notice of the request for sanctions, on August 25, 2026 the Court issued a Final Notice & Order to
Plaintiff to respond to the outstanding discovery or to have requests for admission deemed
admitted and attorneys fees awarded. Dkt. 43 (“Final Order). In the Final Order, the Court
warned Plaintiff that failure to respond would result in the Court granting Defendants’ motion to
Case 5:25-cv-07838-BLF Document 46 Filed 10/13/26 Page 1 of 2

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United States District Court
Northern District of California
deem requests for admission admitted and that the consequence of such an order would be that
Defendants would have grounds to move for summary judgment. Id. The Court further ordered
the Clerk of the Court to mail the order to the two known addresses of Plaintiff. Id. One notice
came back as “undeliverable”; the other did not. Dkt. 44. Defendants have advised the Court that
they have received no response from Plaintiff and therefore renew their request for sanctions.
As the Defendants and the Court have made all reasonable efforts to ensure that Plaintiff
has notice of the pending motion, and Plaintiff having failed to respond, the Court GRANTS
Defendants’ request for discovery sanctions as follows:
1. The Defendant County’s requests for admission, set one, are hereby deemed admitted
by Plaintiff; and
2. The Defendant County is awarded its reasonable attorneys fees in bringing the original
motion to compel, as supported by the declaration of Ryan Thompson (Dkt. 32-1) in
the amount of $2,843.75.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 13, 2026
SUSAN VAN KEULEN
United States Magistrate Judge
Case 5:25-cv-07838-BLF Document 46 Filed 10/13/26 Page 2 of 2