Grant v. Otis Elevator Co.

199 F.R.D. 673, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5775, 2001 WL 435692
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 26, 2001
DocketNo. 00-CV-194-B(M)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 199 F.R.D. 673 (Grant v. Otis Elevator Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Otis Elevator Co., 199 F.R.D. 673, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5775, 2001 WL 435692 (N.D. Okla. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

McCARTHY, United States Magistrate Judge.

This order resolves a number of discovery motions which have been referred to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge for decision. The matters have been briefed and a hearing was conducted on February 22, 2001.

Defendant Otis Elevator Company’s Motion To Amend Witness List [Dkt. 72]

At the hearing, Defendant withdrew all aspects of this motion except for its request to formally add a hand-writing expert witness and its request to add Owasso Police Officer Mozingo as a witness. The Court previously allowed Defendant to add a handwriting expert to its witness list. [Dkt. 69]. That order remains in effect. Defendant is permitted to formally add the name of its hand-writing expert to its witness list.

In granting permission to add a handwriting expert, the Court considered the factors set forth in Smith v. Ford Motor Company, 626 F.2d 784, 797 (10th Cir.1980) and determined that the factors weighed in favor of allowing the addition to the witness list. The same analysis applies to Defendant’s request to add Owasso Police Officer Mozingo. However, the result is not the same.

Defendant recently identified Officer Mozingo as an investigating officer at Plaintiffs August 1998 automobile accident. Defendant seeks to offer Officer Mozingo’s testimony concerning his observations of the Plaintiffs condition at the time of the accident, for the purpose of attempting to counter Plaintiffs claims concerning her physical condition and capabilities. The explanation offered for the late identification of Officer Mozingo was that Defendant was pursuing other aspects of the case and only recently focused on identifying Officer Mozingo. However, Defendant notes that the August 1998 automobile accident is already an issue in the litigation and that medical records from the Plaintiffs treatment subsequent to that automobile accident will be in evidence. Plaintiffs assert that Defendant has not offered good cause for adding a witness at this late date in the proceedings. And, if Officer Mozingo is added as a witness, Plaintiffs will be required to investigate and potentially offer other witnesses who observed the August 1998 automobile accident.

The Smith factors weigh in favor of denying Defendant’s motion to add Officer Mozingo to the witness list. Adding Officer Mozingo would disrupt the pretrial preparation of the case. At a minimum, Officer Mozingo would have to be deposed. Potentially, depositions of other accident witnesses would be required. This additional discovery would take time away from the other pretrial procedures, including the March 9, 2001, pretrial conference and preparation of the final pretrial order which is due March 26, 2001. Further, opening this area of inquiry would likely involve the Court in resolving additional related discovery disputes. Moreover, Defendant has not established good cause for the late request.

Based upon the April 16, 2001, jury trial setting and the fact that the case has been pending since August 1999 in state court and since March 2000 in this court, the Court finds that Defendant’s Motion To Amend Its [675]*675Witness List to add Officer Mozingo should be DENIED.

Plaintiffs Objection to and Motion to Quash Subpoenas Duces Tecum to Hillcrest Medical Center [Dkt. 77]; Hillcrest Medical Center’s Objection to Subpoena [Dkt. 79]; Defendant’s Combined Motion to Enforce Subpoena and Compel Production of Documents, Response to Objections and Motion To Quash Subpoena to Hill-crest Medical Center, and Application for Evidentiary Hearing [Dkt. 97]

Plaintiff, Cheri Grant, was an employee of Hillcrest Medical Center (Hillcrest) at the time she claims to have received a shock from an elevator call button at Hillcrest. The subject elevator was used by Hillcrest staff to transport patients. When deposed by Defendant, another employee of Hillcrest, Beth Hamill, testified that the same elevator call button fell off in her hand while she was transporting a patient. She further testified that she determined the date when this occurred by reviewing the log of patients who had delivered babies at Hillcrest (delivery log) and the medical record of the patient she was transporting when the call button fell off in her hand.1

On January 16, 2001, after Beth Hamill’s deposition, and after the January 11, 2001 discovery deadline, Defendant issued a Subpoena Duces Tecum to Hillcrest which specifically requested the delivery log and medical records concerning deliveries at Hill-crest for a three month period. Litigants may not use the subpoena power of the court to conduct discovery after the discovery deadline. Rice v. U.S., 164 F.R.D. 556 (N.D.Okla.1995). The Court finds that the January 16, 2001 subpoena was improper discovery by Defendant and, therefore, does not serve as a basis for ordering Hillcrest to produce the documents.

At the hearing, Defendant contended that the documents should be produced pursuant to a November 1, 2000 Subpoena Duces Te-cum to Hillcrest. That subpoena requested production of:

Any and all documents, tangible things and/or writings relating or referring to Cheri Grant’s claim that she received an electrical shock on November 21, 1997, at Hillcrest Medical Center, including but not limited to any accident or incident reports, correspondence and/or memoranda.

The Court finds that the November 1, 2000 subpoena cannot reasonably be construed to include the delivery log and patient medical records which Defendant now seeks in its Motion to Enforce Subpoena and Compel Production of Documents. [Dkt. 97].

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs Objection to and Motion to Quash Subpoenas Duces Tecum to Hillcrest Medical Center [Dkt. 77] is GRANTED; Hillcrest Medical Center’s Objection to Subpoena [Dkt. 79] is GRANTED; Defendant’s Combined Motion to Enforce Subpoena and Compel Production of Documents, Response to Objections and Motion To Quash Subpoena to Hillcrest Medical Center [Dkt. 97] is DENIED.

Additionally, Defendant’s Application for Evidentiary Hearing [Dkt. 97] to inquire into the compliance by Hillcrest with discovery requests in this case is DENIED. Defendant has offered no basis for the Court to conclude that such an evidentiary hearing is necessary.

Plaintiffs Motion to Direct Payment to Medical Providers [Dkt. 88]

Plaintiffs request an order from the Court directing Defendant to pay, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(4)(c), two medical care providers (treating physicians) a reasonable fee for the witnesses’ time for depositions conducted by Defendant. Defendant responds that the two witnesses are not expert witnesses within Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 and, therefore, are only entitled to statutory witness fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1821. The parties acknowledge that there is a split of authority among the courts that have considered this question. See Coleman v. Dydula, [676]*676190 F.R.D. 320 (W.D.N.Y.1999) (citation of cases on both sides of the issue.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 F.R.D. 673, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5775, 2001 WL 435692, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-otis-elevator-co-oknd-2001.