A molecular biologist recently had her case thrown out for repeatedly disobeying the court's orders to provide discovery. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ("UMDMJ") employed Ewa Fik-Rymarkiewicz as a postdoctoral fellow. She claimed that she experienced harassment and discrimination from her supervisors after she notified them that she was pregnant in January 2005. UMDMJ terminated her in September 2006.
In October 2006, Fik-Rymarkiewicz filed a lawsuit alleging
claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in violation
of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("NJLAD").
However, she failed to cooperate with UMDMJ during the discovery
process. As a result, the school's attorneys continued her
deposition on four separate days between August 2008 and April of
2010. During her depositions, Fik-Rymarkiewicz refused to answer
questions about her current employment and immigration status.
Instead, she claimed that she would "answer only questions
which are related to the time [she] was working for... UMDNJ."
She also failed to produce her income tax returns.
When Fik-Rymarkiewicz did not appear for the fourth day of her
deposition as ordered by the court, UMDMJ filed a motion to dismiss
her complaint without prejudice. The court granted the motion and
ordered that she produce certain discovery and participate in
another day of deposition. However, she was again obstinate at her
deposition and unilaterally redacted various information and
schedules from her tax returns when she finally produced
them.
UMDMJ then moved to dismiss her complaint with prejudice which the
court granted. Fik-Rymarkiewicz appealed that decision to the New
Jersey Appellate Division. In a published opinion, the Appellate
Division found Fik-Rymarkiewicz's conduct to be
"deliberate and contumacious" and upheld the lower
court's ruling.
Originally published on the Employer's Law Blog
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