Mycogen Seeds Buyer Loses Appeal of Suit’s Dismissal as Sanction

Eastern Colorado Seeds LLC lost its bid to revive its lawsuit against Agrigenetics Inc. over a volume purchase incentive program, after the Tenth Circuit affirmed a punitive dismissal of its claims.

All the factors a district court should consider before imposing dismissal as a sanction for failure to comply with court orders weighed in favor of tossing the claims against the company, which is also known as Mycogen Seeds, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said in an unpublished per curiam decision.

Mycogen moved for dismissal after ECS violated the lower court’s order to produce discovery.

When the lower court issued the order, which came after Mycogen repeatedly failed to respond to discovery requests, it warned ECS that failure to comply could result in dismissal.

But in defiance of the court order, ECS proceeded to deny requests for admissions that had already been deemed admitted and, instead of producing the requested documents, “produced only a few spreadsheets.” ECS also represented that it had already produced relevant business records, when it had not, according to the appeals court decision.

ECS’s “chief argument” was that counsel was at fault. But the client, as the principal in an attorney-client relationship, is responsible for his agent-counsel’s conduct. To the extent a lawyer has engaged in misconduct, the client’s remedy is a malpractice claim, the court said.

Although the Tenth Circuit acknowledged that it has “occasionally” remanded a case to a district court for failure to consider the client’s responsibility, here, the lower judge “expressly considered the client’s culpability.”

Throughout the case, counsel “repeatedly noted the involvement of the client in causing the delays,” the court said.

The lawyer also represented to the magistrate judge that he had been “diligently working” with his client to secure responses to Mycogen’s discovery requests.

Judges Harris L Hartz, Carolyn B. McHugh, and Joel M. Carson joined in the decision.

ECS is represented by Fairfield and Woods PC in the appeal. Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP represented ECS before the district court.

Mycogen is represented by Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.

The case is E. Colo. Seeds LLC v. Agrigenetics Inc., 10th Cir., No. 21-1057, unpublished 12/23/21.