Chatman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.

246 F.R.D. 695, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86120, 2007 WL 4181160
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedNovember 21, 2007
DocketNo. 3:06-cv-1005-J-32MCR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 246 F.R.D. 695 (Chatman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chatman v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 246 F.R.D. 695, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86120, 2007 WL 4181160 (M.D. Fla. 2007).

Opinion

ORDER

MONTE C. RICHARDSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion to Compel (Doc. 15) filed October 22, 2007. Defendant filed a response in opposition on November 5, 2007. (Doc. 22). Accordingly, the matter is ripe for judicial review.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 16, 2006, Plaintiff filed an action alleging racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. (Doc. 1). Essentially, the complaint alleges Defendant subjected Plaintiff to discrimination and harassment on the basis of his race and that Plaintiffs employment was ultimately terminated in retaliation for complaining of racial discrimination. Id. Specifically, Plaintiff began working for Defendant in October 1998 as a locomotive engineer in Los Angeles, California. Id. In February 2000, Plaintiff claimed a position in Sanford, Florida, however, prior to beginning work in that new position, Plaintiff was informed he had been awarded the position in error and he should claim one of the six vacant positions in Jacksonville, Florida. Id. When Plaintiff arrived in Jacksonville, he was informed by two supervisors, Frank Large and Darrell Murray, that there were no available positions in Jacksonville and the two supervisors allegedly made racially derogatory statements. Id. Plaintiff complained to his union and eventually was awarded a position in Jacksonville. Id. According to Plaintiff, he was subjected to racially motivated harassment by Large and Murray. Id. In April 2001, Plaintiff complained to the Assistant General Manager of the Jacksonville Division, Tom Fortune, about the harassment. Id. Unfortunately, the harassment continued and in October 2001, Plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”). Id. Plaintiff claims the harassment continued until September 2005 when Plaintiff received a termination letter for his alleged failure to report an injury and dishonesty. Id.

On June 12, 2007, Plaintiff served Defendant with his first set of interrogatories and his first requests for production. (Doc. 15, Ex. C). On August 2, 2007, Defendant responded to these discovery requests (Doc. 15, Ex. D) and Plaintiff now challenges these responses as being incomplete.

II. DISCUSSION

Motions to compel discovery under Rule 37(a) are committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. See Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Westrope, 730 F.2d 729, 731 (11th Cir.1984). The trial court’s exercise of discretion regarding discovery orders will be sustained absent a finding of abuse of that discretion to the prejudice of a party. See Westrope, 730 F.2d at 731.

The overall purpose of discovery under the Federal Rules is to require the disclosure of all relevant information so that the ultimate resolution of disputed issues in any civil action may be based on a full and accurate understanding of the true facts, and therefore embody a fair and just result. See United States v. Procter & Gamble Co., 356 U.S. 677, 682, 78 S.Ct. 983, 2 L.Ed.2d 1077 (1958). Discovery is intended to operate with minimal judicial supervision unless a dispute arises and one of the parties files a motion requiring judicial intervention. Furthermore, “[d]iscovery in this district should be practiced with a spirit of cooperation and civility.” Middle District Discovery (2001) at 1.

In the instant motion, Plaintiff claims that several of Defendant’s responses to his dis[697]*697covery requests are deficient. Additionally, Plaintiff complains that the verification to the interrogatories is not in compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court will address each of Plaintiffs contentions separately.

A. Defendant’s Responses to Plaintiffs Interrogatories and Requests to Produce

Plaintiff complains that Defendant did not adequately respond to Interrogatory 6, Request for Production No. 6, Request for Production No. 7 and Request for Production No. 8. (Doc. 15). Specifically, Plaintiff contends Defendant improperly limited the geographical and temporal restrictions in its response to these discovery requests. These requests seek information regarding other claims of racial discrimination against Amtrak employees. Interrogatory 6 and Request for Production No. 6 seek information regarding all claims of racial discrimination against Amtrak employees in the Southern Division from 1999 to the present. Defendant responded by providing information regarding complaints against Frank Large, Tom Fortune and Darryl Murray in the Jacksonville District from 2000 to the present. Request for Production No. 7 seeks documents regarding complaints of racial discrimination against employees in the Jacksonville branch office from 1999 to the present. Again, Defendant limited its response to complaints against Large, Fortune and Murray from 2000 to the present. Finally, Request for Production No. 8 seeks documents regarding complaints of racial discrimination against Fortune, Large, Murray, Jay MacArthur or Joseph Wall regardless of time period. Once again, Defendant limited its response to complaints against Large, Fortune and Murray from 2000 to the present. Plaintiff now takes the position that Defendant should be required to fully respond to the discovery requests.

Plaintiff argues that the temporal limitations on his discovery requests are reasonable. Interrogatory 6, Request for Production No. 6 and Request for Production No. 7 only seek information going back to 1999 and Plaintiff claims he was first subjected to discriminatory/demeaning statements in 1999 when he went to Jacksonville to apply for a position. Defendant, on the other hand, argues that the “most significant employment decision in this case was the termination of Plaintiffs employment,” which occurred September 21, 2005. (Doc. 22, p. 14). Therefore, Defendant claims that its limitation of production from 2000 to the present (five years before Plaintiffs termination) is more than reasonable. Both parties acknowledge that courts routinely grant discovery regarding other instances of employment discrimination for a reasonable length of time. As Plaintiff points out, courts have held that discovery “several year prior to the alleged discriminatory conduct is reasonable.” (Doc. 15, p. 11). Plaintiff cites to several cases holding that going back three to four years prior to the alleged discriminatory conduct constitutes a reasonable time limitation. In the instant case, Plaintiff alleges he was subjected to discriminatory conduct going back to as early as 1999. The Court sees no reason to use Plaintiffs termination as the date from which to limit discovery. Indeed, Defendant has cited no authority for its position that the Court should use Plaintiffs termination as the date from which to limit discovery. Instead, it appears Plaintiff was subjected to diserimination/harassment throughout his employment in Jacksonville and indeed, he filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC in October 2001.

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246 F.R.D. 695, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86120, 2007 WL 4181160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chatman-v-national-railroad-passenger-corp-flmd-2007.