Edeh v. Equifax Information Services, LLC

291 F.R.D. 330, 2013 WL 3997874, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109319
District Court, D. Minnesota·Decided August 5, 2013·No. Civil No. 11-CV-2671 (SRN/JSM)·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SUSAN RICHARD NELSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Samuel N. Edeh’s Appeal [Doc. No. 154] of Magistrate Judge Janie S. Mayeron’s April 23, 2013, Order [Doc. No. 150] granting in part and denying in part Plaintiffs Motion to Compel, Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted, Motion to Extend Discovery Deadline as to Plaintiff Only, and Motion to Increase the Number of Interrogatories Plaintiff May Serve on Defendant [Doc. No. 133]. After reviewing the Magistrate Judge’s Order for clear error, the Court affirms the Order for the reasons set forth below.

II. BACKGROUND

In this lawsuit, Plaintiff Samuel N. Edeh (“Edeh”) alleges that Capital One Bank (“Capital One”) failed to properly credit a payment he made on an overdue credit card [332]*332balance, and that when he contacted Defendant Equifax Information Services, LLC (“Equifax”) to dispute the credit report that included the overdue balance, Equifax did not conduct a reasonable investigation into the matter. The only claim remaining in the lawsuit is Equifax’s alleged violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681i. In particular, the unresolved issues include: (1) whether Equifax was on notice that the information provided to it by Capital One was inaccurate and, accordingly, it should have done more to investigate; (2) whether Equifax provided Capital One with all of the relevant information regarding the disputes raised by Edeh as to his account; and (3) whether Equifax’s alleged conduct constituted a willful violation of the FCRA. (See Mem. and Order dated Sept. 21, 2012, at 11-16 (“Sept. 21 Summ. J. Order”) [Doc. No. 92].)

The matter currently before this Court concerns discovery disputes between the parties. On December 29, 2012, Edeh brought a Motion to Compel, Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted, Motion to Extend Discovery Deadline as to Plaintiff Only, and Motion to Increase the Number of Interrogatories Plaintiff May Serve on Defendant [Doc. No. 133]. Edeh filed a brief [Doc. No. 134] and affidavit [Doe. No. 135] in support of his motion. Equifax filed an opposition brief [Doc. No. 143] on January 14, 2013, and multiple declarations [Doc. Nos. 144, 145, 147, 148]. Edeh filed a reply brief on January 17, 2013 [Doc. No. 149]. The parties submitted the motion on the papers, and the Magistrate Judge issued an order on April 23, 2013, granting in part and denying in part Edeh’s motion. (Order dated Apr. 23, 2013, at 1 (“Apr. 23 Order”) [Doc. No. 150].)

Relevant to this Appeal, Edeh challenged Equifax’s response to Interrogatory No. 2 of Plaintiffs Second Set of Interrogatories in his motion. (See Mem. of Law in Supp. of Pl.’s Mot. to Compel, Mot. to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted, Mot. to Extend Disc. Deadline as to PL Only, and Mot. to Increase the Number of Interrogs. PL May Serve on Def. at 18-19 (“PL’s Mem.”) [Doe. No. 134].) Interrogatory No. 2, and Equi-fax’s response, are as follows:

INTERROGATORY NO. 2:
What are the minimum qualifications for your dispute clerk or operator, listing the minimum education and training requirements) before your dispute clerk or operator can be hired.
response to interrogatory no. 2:
Equifax objects to this Interrogatory on the basis that it is vague, ambiguous, over-broad and unduly burdensome. Equifax further objects to this Interrogatory on the basis that it seeks information that is neither relevant nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Equifax further objects to the extent that this Interrogatory seeks the disclosure of confidential, trade secret, and/or proprietary information.

(Edeh Aff., Ex. C, at 7 [Doc. No. 135].) In response to Edeh’s motion, Equifax agreed to produce, pursuant to the protective order in this case, a summary of the training the operators are required to undertake. (Def.’s Mem. in Opp. to PL’s Mot. to Compel, Mot. to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted, Mot. to Extend the Disc. Deadline as to Pl. Only, and Mot. to Increase the Number of Interrogs. Pl. May Serve on Def. at 8-9 (“Def.’s Opp. Mem.”) [Doc. No. 143].) Edeh, however, claimed the minimum educational qualifications of the operators are also relevant to his claim. (PL’s Mem. at 18-19 [Doc. No. 134].) The Magistrate Judge found that the information regarding the minimal educational requirements for Equifax’s dispute operators is neither relevant nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible information and denied Edeh’s motion in that regard. (Apr. 23 Order at 19-20 [Doe. No. 150].)

Edeh also challenged Equifax’s responses to Requests for Production Nos. 1 and 2 of Plaintiff’s Second Set of Requests for Production of Documents. (PL’s Mem. at 19-23 [Doe. No. 134].) Request for Production No. 1, and Equifax’s response, state:

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 1:
If dispute clerks or operators who handled plaintiffs disputes are not direct employees of Equifax, please produce your contract with the corporation or agency that employed the dispute clerks or operators who handled plaintiff’s disputes.
[333]*333 RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 1:
Equifax objects to this Request on the basis that it is overbroad, and seeks information that is neither relevant to any issue in this case nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Subject to and without waiving these objections, Equifax states that it is not in possession of any documents responsive to this Request.

(Edeh Aff., Ex. C, at 11 [Doc. No. 135].) Equifax thereafter agreed to produce, subject to the protective order and with pricing information redacted, a copy of the agreement with the vendor that handled Edeh’s disputes regarding his Capital One account. (Def.’s Opp. Mem. at 10 [Doe. No. 143].) Edeh maintained that the agreement should be produced in an unredacted format. (Pl.’s Reply Mem. in Supp. of His Mot. to Compel, Mot. to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted, Mot. to Extend Disc. Deadline as to PI. Only, and Mot. to Increase the Number of Interrogs. PL May Serve on Def. at 5 (“PL’s Reply Mem.”) [Doe. No. 149].) The Magistrate Judge denied Edeh’s request on the grounds that the pricing information is irrelevant to the remaining issues in the case. (Apr. 23 Order at 22 [Doc. No. 150].)

Request for Production No. 2, and Equi-fax’s response, state:

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 2:
Please produce your employment, salary, and disciplinary records or history for your operators or dispute clerks who handled plaintiffs disputes.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 2:
Equifax objects to this Request on the basis it is overbroad, and seeks information that is neither relevant to any issue in this ease nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Equifax further objects to this Request to the extent it seeks the production of confidential, private information concerning certain individuals.

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Edeh v. Equifax Information Services, LLC, 291 F.R.D. 330, 2013 WL 3997874, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109319 (mnd 2013).

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