Beach v. City of Olathe

203 F.R.D. 489, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16215
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedSeptember 17, 2001
DocketCIV.A. Nos. 99-2210-GTV, 99-2217-GTV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 203 F.R.D. 489 (Beach v. City of Olathe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beach v. City of Olathe, 203 F.R.D. 489, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16215 (D. Kan. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WAXSE, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Dennis Beach’s Motion to Compel Discovery (doc. 117) and Plaintiff John Bunker’s Motion to Compel Discovery (doc. 122). Plaintiff Beach moves the Court for an order compelling Defendants to answer Plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories, Nos. 1-6 and 9, and to produce documents responsive to Requests Nos. 1 and 8 of Plaintiff Beach’s Second Request for Production of Documents. Plaintiff Bunker seeks an order compelling Defendants to answer Interrogatory Nos. 2-13 of Plaintiff Bunker’s First Set of Interrogatories and produce documents in [492]*492response to Request No. 1 of Plaintiff Bunker’s Request for Production of Documents. Subject to the limitations set forth below, plaintiffs’ Motions to Compel are granted.

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Plaintiff Beach, who was formerly a detective-sergeant with the Olathe Police Department, brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Olathe (the City), the City Manager, and the former Chief of Police of the Olathe Police Department, Phil Major. Plaintiff Beach claims that Defendants retaliated against him for speaking out about matters of public concern in violation of his rights to free speech and freedom of association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Plaintiff Beach’s action was consolidated with a similar § 1983 case filed by John Bunker, the Chief of Detectives of the Olathe Police Department. Plaintiff Bunker filed his civil action against the City of Olathe, Susan Sherman, Philip Major and Howard Kannady. Plaintiff Bunker alleges that Defendants retaliated against him for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.

During discovery of these consolidated cases, plaintiff Beach served his Second Set of Interrogatories and Second Request for Production upon the City on March 6, 2000. On that same date, plaintiff Bunker served on the City his First Set of Interrogatories and Request for Production for Documents. The City served its answers and responses to plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories and Second Request for Production, as well as plaintiff Bunker’s First Set of Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents on April 5, 2001. Thereafter, the parties exchanged correspondence attempting to confer regarding the discovery objections raised by the City.

Plaintiff Beach filed and served his Motion to Compel Discovery (doc. 117) on April 24, 2001. Plaintiff Bunker filed and served his Motion to Compel Discovery (doc. 122) on April 27, 2001. The City filed and served its Memorandum in Response to Plaintiffs’ Motions to Compel Discovery (doc. 125) on May 11, 2001.1

II. THE INTERROGATORIES AT ISSUE

The Court will first consider the City’s general objection that plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories, when considered with his First Set of Interrogatories and when the relevant subsections are counted, exceeds the maximum number of interrogatories allowed by the Scheduling Order (doc. 100).2 The City contends that the subsections of plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories inquire into discrete subjects and therefore should be included in the numerical limit on interrogatories.

The Court has reviewed plaintiff Beach’s First and Second Set of Interrogatories and finds that plaintiff Beach has not exceeded the interrogatory limit set forth in the Scheduling Order. Even if the Court found each subpart of plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories constituted a separate interrogatory, the total number of interrogatories still would not exceed thirty. The City’s general objection that Plaintiff Beach has exceeded the maximum number of interrogatories allowed by the Scheduling Order is therefore overruled.

A. Plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories Nos. 1-6 and Plaintiff Bunker’s First Set of Interrogatories Nos. 3-13

Plaintiff Beach’s Second Set of Interrogatories Nos. 1-2 seek identification of each [493]*493and every police officer who was the subject of an internal affairs investigation for violations of various departmental rules and regulations. ' Plaintiff Beach’s Interrogatories Nos. 3-6 request identification of each and every police officer who was the subject of the internal affairs investigation for failing to give suitable attention to the performance of his duty by regularly and frequently spending large amounts of time discussing and being involved in activities not related to job assignments, and for non-work related use of police department equipment. Plaintiff Beach’s Interrogatories Nos. 3-6 also seek information regarding whether the identified officers were placed on administrative leave or disciplined.

Similar to plaintiff Beach’s Interrogatory Nos. 1 through 6, plaintiff Bunker’s First Set of Interrogatories Nos. 3 through 13 seek identification of other police officers who were subjected to internal affairs investigations for allegedly violating the City’s departmental rules and regulations that were invoked against plaintiff Bunker. The interrogatories also inquire as to whether each identified police officer had been placed on administrative leave during the internal affairs investigation, the dates of any administrative leave, whether each such police officer was disciplined for alleged rules violation, and if so, what discipline was imposed.

The City objects to plaintiffs’ interrogatories, which seek information concerning other police officers who were subjected to internal affairs investigations for allegedly violating the departmental rules and regulations invoked against plaintiffs, on the grounds that they are overly broad and unduly burdensome, the information requested is confidential and privileged material, and the information sought is unlikely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

1. Unduly burdensome objections

The Court will first address the City’s unduly burdensome objections to the interrogatories posed by plaintiffs Beach and Bunker. With respect to its assertion that the interrogatories are unduly burdensome, the City has the burden to show that responding to the discovery is unduly burdensome. Daneshvar v. Graphic Technology Inc., No. Civ. A. 97-2304-JWL, 1998 WL 726091, *3 (D.Kan. Oct.9, 1998)(citing Snow-den v. Connaught Laboratories, Inc., 137 F.R.D. 325, 332 (D.Kan.1991)). The court should balance the burden on the interrogated party against the benefit to the discovering party of having the information. Daneshvar, 1998 WL 726091 at *3 (citing Hoffman v. United Telecommunications, Inc., 117 F.R.D. 436, 438 (D.Kan.1987)). Discovery should be allowed unless the hardship is unreasonable compared to the benefits to be secured from the discovery. Daneshvar, 1998 WL 726091 at *3.

In support of its unduly burdensome objections to plaintiffs’ interrogatories, the City has submitted the affidavits of Howard Kannady, the person responsible for the internal affairs and personnel files of the Olathe police department. Mr. Kannady’s affidavit responding to plaintiff Beach’s Interrogatory Nos. 1-6 alleges that the City would be required to expend the following effort to fully answer the interrogatories:

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Bluebook (online)
203 F.R.D. 489, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beach-v-city-of-olathe-ksd-2001.