Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

186 F.R.D. 54, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11489, 1998 WL 1048986
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided June 15, 1998·No. Nos. Civ. 96-2123 RCL, Civ. 97-1288 RCL·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LAMBERTH, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on plaintiffs’ Motion to Modify February 13, 1998 Protective Order, Plaintiff Cara Alexander’s Motion for Protective Order, defendant Executive Office of the President’s Motion to Compel Discovery and for Costs and Attorney’s Fees, and plaintiffs’ Motion for Enlargement of Time to Produce Medical and Other Records. Upon consideration of the submissions of the parties and the relevant law, plaintiffs’ Motion to Modify February 13, 1998 Protective Order is GRANTED and all documents produced by plaintiffs in response to document request 11 of defendants’ October 22, 1997 discovery request shall be limited to use by defendants’ counsel only for purposes of this litigation and shall not be disseminated to defendants without prior leave of this court; Plaintiff Cara Alexander’s Motion for Protective Order is GRANTED and the Amended Complaint is deemed further amended and all non-economic or special damages asserted by Alexander in the complaint are hereby stricken; defendant Executive Office of the President’s Motion to Compel Discovery and for Costs and Attorney’s Fees is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; and plaintiffs’ Motion for Enlargement of Time to Produce Medical and Other Records is GRANTED.

I. Background

As stated in several opinions by this court, the underlying allegations in this case arise from what has become popularly known as “Filegate.” According to their complaint, plaintiffs allege that their privacy interests were violated when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) improperly handed over to the White House hundreds of FBI files of former political appointees and government employees under the Reagan and Bush Administrations.

On February 13,1998, this court entered a protective order “pertain[ing] to documents or information in the plaintiffs’ or federal defendants’ possession, custody or control concerning personal information about an individual that is marked ‘Subject to Protective Order,’ or given some comparable marking, by the producing party.” Protective Order of Feb. 13, 1998, H 1. This protective order provides that neither plaintiffs nor federal defendants are permitted to disclose any information covered in paragraph one of the order to any person or entity for any reason other than for purposes of litigating this case. Id. HH 2-3. The protective order also lists the class of individuals to whom this information can be provided in preparation of trial and this class includes parties and counsel. Id. 114.

Prior to the court’s entry of this protective order, plaintiffs expressed concern over whether defendants should have access to certain materials disclosed to counsel for defendants during discovery. During a status conference held on February 13, 1998, the court stated that plaintiffs’ concerns would be addressed if plaintiffs filed a motion to modify the protective order and plaintiffs should move to extend the time for producing the materials requested until such a time as the court ruled on the motion to modify. Presently, plaintiffs have filed motions to modify the protective order and to extend the time for producing medical and other records requested by defendants. Defendant Executive Office of the President (“EOP”) has also filed a motion to compel the production of discovery materials responsive to the discovery request served on plaintiffs on October 22, 1997. Additionally, defendants seek attorneys’ fees and costs.

II. Analysis

A. Plaintiff Cara Alexander’s Motion for Protective Order

The court turns first to plaintiff Cara Alexander’s Motion for Protective Order. This motion states that Alexander has become concerned about the release of any such medical and other information to defendants and requests that the court enter a protective order denying defendants access to “highly sensitive medical and other records and information.” As grounds to support the entry of the protective order by this court, the [57]*57motion specifies that Alexander has decided to forgo any claim for special damages arising from the emotional distress she suffered as a result of the alleged acts at issue in this case. Consequently, she asserts that she should not have to produce records and information sought by defendants.

Defendants oppose the motion and it is their position that they are entitled to discovery regarding all of Alexander’s damages as alleged in her complaint. Defendants contend that plaintiffs have been notified that if the complaint is amended to withdraw any claim for non-economic damages by Alexander, defendants will modify their discovery requests accordingly.

Plaintiffs state that the entry of a protective order would be “the simpler and less costly of the two ways that the parties have proposed to achieve the same goal.” Reply to Defs.’ Opp. at 2. Indeed, plaintiffs are correct that both methods would achieve the same goal. For this reason, plaintiffs’ complaint shall be deemed amended with respect to plaintiff Cara Alexander and all non-economic or special damages asserted by Alexander in the complaint are hereby stricken and her motion for a protective order is granted. Defendants shall modify their discovery requests accordingly.

B. Plaintiffs’ Motion to Modify February IS, 1998 Protective Order

The protective order of February 13, 1998 prohibits defendants and their representatives, including counsel, from disclosing any materials covered by the protective order to other parties or from using this information for purposes unrelated to this case. Plaintiffs seek to modify this protective order to prohibit defendants from having access to this information and request that the protective order limit dissemination strictly to counsel for defendants.

Plaintiffs state that the information contained in the medical histories sought and other “highly sensitive records” include psychiatric and other matters of a potentially embarrassing nature. It is believed that such documents could be used against plaintiffs and the request for the modification of the protective order is premised on “[defendants’ past course of conduct, as well as their apparent, continuing willingness to use confidential information against adversaries of the President and Mrs. Clinton.” Pis.’ Mot. to Modify Feb. 13, 1998 Protective Order at 3. Plaintiffs claim that any benefit that could be derived from disclosure of this information is greatly outweighed by the substantial risk of improper use of these records.

Defendants oppose the modification of the protective on several grounds. Defendants assert that plaintiffs are unable to justify the need for the modification of the protective order because they have publicly placed their medical condition at issue and will necessarily be required to expound on the nature and degree of any injuries asserted at some point in this litigation. Defendants contend that plaintiffs’ claims of injury are central to this case because these injuries bear on issues of standing and class certification. In sum, it is defendants’ position that it would be manifestly unfair for plaintiffs to demand $90 million in damages from defendants and simultaneously demand that the same defendants be barred from reviewing the evidence underlying the damages claimed.

Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

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Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 186 F.R.D. 54, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11489, 1998 WL 1048986 (D.D.C. 1998).

186 F.R.D. 54 (Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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