Murungi v. Touro Infirmary, 110 So. 3d 1250

Murungi sued Touro Infirmary and others under the Louisiana Whistleblower Statute (La. R.S. 23:967) with suit filed November 29, 2010.
Touro moved to compel discovery on April 26, 2011; trial court granted June 13, 2011 requiring responses by July 5, 2011.
Touro filed a second motion to compel August 9, 2011; plaintiff’s July 6, 2011 responses were deficient and he failed to provide supplemental answers after notice.
Trial court issued a show-cause order September 23, 2011 regarding noncompliance.
Hearing held October 21, 2011; court warned dismissal if responses were not provided by November 4, 2011; plaintiff again failed to comply.
January 3, 2012 judgment dismissed plaintiff’s case with prejudice, denied summary judgment, and rendered two related motions moot; appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal with prejudice was proper for discovery noncompliance under Art. 1471(A)(3).	Murungi argues dismissal was unwarranted given nonwillful noncompliance.	Touro contends dismissal is appropriate as a sanction for willful noncompliance with court orders.	Affirmed; no abuse of discretion; dismissal with prejudice upheld.
Whether the denial of summary judgment was proper or had been abandoned on appeal.	Murungi contends summary judgment should have been granted in his favor.	Touro did not press summary-judgment issues on appeal.	Issues not briefed are abandoned; no reversal based on summary judgment.

At Your Service Enterprises, Inc. v. Swope, 4 So.3d 138 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2009) (sanctions for discovery; dismissal as last resort but appropriate for willful noncompliance; consideration of willfulness and fault)
Hutchinson v. Westport Ins. Corp., 886 So.2d 438 (La. 2004) (trial court has wide discretion in discovery sanctions; no reversal absent abuse of discretion)
Raspanti v. Litchfield, 946 So.2d 234 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2006) (requires inquiry into willfulness or fault when dismissing for noncompliance)