Fojtasek v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd.

262 F.R.D. 650, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107478, 2009 WL 3733334
District Court, S.D. Florida·Decided November 6, 2009·No. Case No. 09-20581-CIV·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL DEFENDANT TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS

ANDREA M. SIMONTON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Presently pending before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Defendant to Produce Documents (DE # 58). The Defendant has filed an Opposition to the Motion (DE # 69) and the Motion was referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge (DE # 59). A hearing was held on the Motion on September 17, 2009 wherein, after hearing arguments from counsel, the undersigned announced her rulings on the Motion to Compel.1 The undersigned then issued a written Omnibus Order that incorporated the rulings made from the bench at that hearing and directed the Defendant to submit certain documents that remained in dispute for an in camera review by the undersigned (DE #81). The Order also directed the Defendant to provide to the Court and the Plaintiff a list of documents produced to Plaintiff in response to Plaintiffs Request for Documents that were initially objected to or included in the Defendant’s Privilege and Amended Privilege Log that had subsequently been produced to the Plaintiff. Finally, the Order permitted the Plaintiff to file a Reply to his Motion to Compel and directed the Plaintiff to promptly notify the Court if the documents listed by the Defendant as provided had not, in fact, been produced to the Plaintiff (DE # 81 at 8).

In compliance with the Omnibus Order, the Plaintiff submitted its Reply to the Motion to Compel (DE #78) and Defendant filed its Sur-Reply to that Motion (DE # 82). In addition, on September 30, 2009, the Defendant submitted a chart listing the documents and emails that remained at issue between the Parties and a key which identified and set forth the corporate positions of the individuals named and “ce’d” in certain of the emails at issue (DE ## 82-2, 82-3). As directed by the Order, the Defendant also submitted an incident report and six (6) emails that remain in contention between the Parties, for an in camera inspection. The undersigned has conducted an in camera review of the submitted documents and for the following reasons, concludes that the Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Production of Documents (DE #58) should be GRANTED, in part and DENIED, in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Glenn Fojtasek initiated this diversity action as husband and personal representative of the Estate of Barbara Fojta-sek, his deceased wife, seeking damages from Defendant NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., (“NCL”) pursuant to the Florida Wrongful Death Act, Fla. Stat. § 768.16 et seq., for NCL’s alleged negligence related to an excursion wherein Mrs. Fojtasek fell to her death (DE # 1, 32). According to the Amended Complaint, while Barbara Fojtasek and her family were aboard the NCL NORWEGIAN SPIRIT cruise ship, they purchased a “Zip-line” shore excursion to be taken in Gumbalimba Park in Roatan, Honduras. The excursion was advertised in the “Shore Excursions Aboard NCL” booklet provided to NCL passengers and the Zip-line ride was operated by Tabya-na Tours. On March 18, 2008, while on the excursion, Mrs. Fojtasek and an employee of Gumbalimba Park fell from the Zip-line ride when the cable to which they were harnessed [653]*653broke. Mrs. Fojtasek died from the injuries she sustained in the fall.

In the pending Motion, the Plaintiff seeks to compel the production of an incident report prepared by the Zip-line tour operator, Tabyana Tours (“Tabyana Incident Report” or “Report”), and also seeks to obtain certain emails between either: 1) NCL employees wherein a copy was sent to NCL’s legal counsel; or, 2) Tabyana Tour company employees and NCL employees.2 In the Motion, Plaintiff argues that the documents at issue are not protected by the work product doctrine and are not attorney client privileged and thus are discoverable. In addition, Plaintiff asserts that even if certain documents are considered to be work product, that in this case an exception applies to the doctrine because Plaintiff has demonstrated that he has a substantial need for the materials to prepare his case and cannot, without undue hardship, obtain their substantial equivalent by other means.

Defendant, on the other hand, argues that the Tabyana Incident Report and the emails between Tabyana employees and NCL employees are protected by the work product doctrine because they were created in anticipation of litigation and as part of the potential joint defense between NCL and Tabyana. In addition, Defendant asserts that the emails between NCL employees wherein employees of the NCL legal department were “cc’d” are protected from disclosure by the attorney client privilege and the work product doctrine. Further, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that a substantial need for the materials exists without which Plaintiff would sustain an undue burden sufficient to overcome the work product protection. Thus, the undersigned must first determine whether the materials at issue constitute work product and are therefore protected from disclosure, and if so, whether the Plaintiff has shown that an exception to the work product doctrine should be applied under the facts of the case at bar.

II. FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b) provides in relevant part,

3) Trial Preparation: Materials.

(A) Documents and Tangible Things. Ordinarily, a party may not discover documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or its representative (including the other party’s attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent). But, subject to Rule 26(b)(4), those materials may be discovered if:

(i) they are otherwise discoverable under Rule 26(b)(1); and

(ii) the party shows that it has substantial need for the materials to prepare its case and cannot, without undue hardship, obtain their substantial equivalent by other means.

Thus, as contemplated by this Rule, the work-product doctrine protects from disclosure materials prepared by an attorney acting for his client in anticipation of litigation. See Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Advisory Committee Notes, Rule 26(b)(3), 1970 Amendment (discussing development of work product doctrine). The work product doctrine is distinct from and broader than the attorney-client privilege, and it protects materials prepared by the attorney, whether or not disclosed to the client, as well as materials prepared by agents for the attorney. In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 601 F.2d 162, 171 (5th Cir.1979).3 Furthermore, “because the work product privilege looks to the vitality of the adversary system rather than simply seeking to preserve confidentiality, it is not automatically waived by the disclosure to a third party.” In re Grand Jury Subpoena, [654]*654220 F.3d 406, 409 (5th Cir.2000).

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Fojtasek v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., 262 F.R.D. 650, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107478, 2009 WL 3733334 (S.D. Fla. 2009).

262 F.R.D. 650 (Fojtasek v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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