The Virginia Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s entry of default judgment against a defendant as a sanction for failing to respond to multiple discovery requests on time.
According to the appeals court’s Jan. 10 opinion, plaintiff Nass Group, a commercial tenant, had sued its landlord, Pine Hill Group, in Fairfax County Circuit Court alleging that, after orally renewing the parties’ lease for another two-year term and paying “several months’ rent at the beginning of new term,” Pine Hill breached the lease by changing locks, preventing Nass from occupying the premises, and wrongfully retaining Nass’s equipment and inventory.
