Goodson v. Nasco Healthcare Inc

District Court, N.D. Texas·Decided August 12, 2025·No. 3:21-cv-01467·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS DALLAS DIVISION

RUSH GOODSON, § § Plaintiff, § § v. § Civil Action No. 3:21-CV-01467-N § NASCO HEALTHCARE INC., § § Defendant. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER This Order addresses Defendant Nasco Healthcare Inc.’s (“Nasco”) motion for protective order [106] and Plaintiff Rush Goodson’s motion for leave to file sur-reply [129] and motion for sanctions [113]. Because Goodson has exceeded the number of depositions permitted in this case, the Court grants the motion for protective order. Next, the Court denies Goodson’s motion for leave to file a sur-reply. Finally, because Goodson has not shown Nasco violated the Court’s prior Order compelling discovery, the Court denies his motion for sanctions. I. ORIGINS OF THE MOTIONS This case arises from a dispute between Goodson and Nasco over alleged unpaid commissions. The Court has previously discussed the factual allegations in this suit, see Goodson v. Nasco Healthcare Inc., 2024 WL 4829487, at *1 (N.D. Tex. 2024), and will not recount them here. In October 2022, Goodson served Nasco’s counsel with a Second Request for Production of Documents. Pl.’s Mot. Compel 3 [53]. This RFP included a request to produce sales data, commissions reports, and “all ESI [electronically stored information] relating to such requests” for years 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and Q1 2021. Id. After Nasco failed to produce the requested ESI, Goodson moved for an order compelling

Nasco to provide electronically stored sales data and metadata. Id. The Court found the disputed discovery requests were relevant and proportional to the needs of the case and granted Goodson’s motion to compel. Mem. Op. & Order 8 (Aug. 28, 2023) [78]. In an effort to comply with this Order, Nasco permitted Goodson and his IT expert, Carlos Vela, to conduct a site visit and directly access Nasco’s data storage systems. Def.’s Resp. Sanctions 1–2 [125]. This visit allowed Vela to extract the requested data and metadata in

native format. Id. at 2. One observer present at the site visit was Brian Hudson. Pl.’s Resp. 3 [117]. Following this visit, Goodson sought to take Hudson’s deposition. Id. at 1. Nasco now moves for a protective order quashing the notice of deposition of Brian Hudson. Def.’s Br. 1 [107]. Goodson moves for leave to file a sur-reply to that motion. Pl.’s Mot. Leave 1 [129]. Goodson also moves for discovery sanctions against Nasco,

asserting it has not complied with the Court’s Order compelling discovery. Pl.’s Mot. Sanctions 1 [113]. The Court takes each motion in turn. II. LEGAL STANDARDS A. Discovery and Protective Order Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 allows parties to “obtain discovery regarding

any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.” FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). To enforce discovery rights, a “party seeking discovery may move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection.” FED. R. CIV. P. 37(a)(3)(B). The Fifth Circuit requires the party seeking to avoid discovery to specify why the discovery is not relevant or show that it fails the proportionality requirements. McLeod, Alexander, Powel & Apffel, P.C. v. Quarles, 894

F.2d 1482, 1485 (5th Cir. 1990); see also Merrill v. Waffle House, Inc., 227 F.R.D. 475, 477 (N.D. Tex. 2005). Courts construe relevance broadly, as a document need not, by itself, prove or disprove a claim or defense or have strong probative force to be relevant. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc. v. Chung, 321 F.R.D. 250, 280 (N.D. Tex. 2017). A district court has wide discretion to supervise discovery, however, and may limit discovery if it would be

unreasonably cumulative, could be obtained more easily from a different source, is not proportional to the needs of the case, or if the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its potential benefit. FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(2)(C); see also Landry v. Air Line Pilots Ass’n Int’l AFL-CIO, 901 F.2d 404, 436 n.114 (5th Cir. 1990). Rule 26(c) authorizes courts to issue “an order to protect a party or person from

annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense” upon a showing of good cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 26(c). Protective orders may forbid certain disclosures, specify the terms for disclosure, forbid inquiry into certain matters, or limit the scope of disclosure to certain matters. Id. The Court may also issue a protective order on relevant discovery that is unduly burdensome. Id. The “decision whether to grant or deny a request for a

protective order is entrusted to the district court’s sound discretion.” Nguyen v. Excel Corp., 197 F.3d 200, 209 n.27 (5th Cir. 1999). B. Discovery Sanctions “District courts have power under various provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure, see, e.g., FED. R. CIV. P. 11, 26, 37, as well as their own inherent authority ‘to punish bad faith conduct occurring during litigation.’” U.S. Risk, LLC v. Hagger, 650 F. Supp. 3d 520, 524 (N.D. Tex. 2023) (Godbey, C.J.) (quoting Thomas v. Napolitano, 2012 WL 13019644, at *2 (N.D. Tex. 2012)). Courts “wield their various sanction powers at their broad discretion.” Topalian v. Ehrman, 3 F.3d 931, 934 (5th Cir. 1993) (collecting cases).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2) provides a wide array of sanctions a Court may impose if a party fails to obey a discovery order. See FED. R. CIV. P. 37(b)(2). When considering whether to impose discovery sanctions, courts consider “(1) the reasons why the disclosure was not made; (2) the amount of prejudice to the opposing party; (3) the feasibility of curing such prejudice with a continuance of the trial; and (4) any other

relevant circumstances.” United States v. Garza, 448 F.3d 294, 299–300 (5th Cir. 2006). III. THE COURT GRANTS NASCO’S MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER Nasco moves for a protective order quashing Goodson’s notice of deposition of Brian Hudson, arguing that it would exceed the ten-deposition limit. Def.’s Br. 1. In response, Goodson seeks leave to take this eleventh deposition. Pl.’s Resp. 5. However,

because Goodson has not met his burden to show the necessity of this eleventh deposition, the Court grants Nasco’s motion. Under Rule 30(a)(2), absent a stipulation of the parties, a party must obtain leave of court to take more than ten depositions. FED. R. CIV. P. 30(a)(2). When a party is required to, and does, seek leave under Rule 30(a)(2)(A)(i) “to take more than ten depositions, the court’s decision whether to grant such leave is governed by the principles set out in”

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) and 26(b)(2). Barrow v. Greenville Indep. Sch. Dist., 202 F.R.D. 480, 482 (N.D. Tex. 2001). In evaluating the proportionality of discovery, the Court considers “the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.” FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). Under Rule

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