What penalty or corrective action courts may impose for failure to comply with discovery?

• A. Dismissal
• B. Sanctions
• C. Adjournment
• D. Contempt

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that when someone fails to comply with discovery, the court uses sanctions to coerce compliance and deter future abuses. Sanctions serve as the umbrella remedy for discovery abuses and can take many forms, from monetary penalties and awarding costs to excluding evidence, limiting claims, or even dismissing part or all of the action if the noncompliance is serious or willful. In New York practice, the rules authorize a range of sanctions for failure to disclose or respond, with more severe measures available for repeated or willful violations. The other options are possible specific outcomes, but sanctions is the broad, controlling concept that encompasses them all. Contempt is a related but separate remedy tied to disobeying a court order, and adjournment merely delays the case rather than penalizing noncompliance.