Gray v. United States Steel Corp.

284 F.R.D. 393, 2012 WL 2421155, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88305
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJune 26, 2012
DocketCivil No. 2:09 cv 327
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 284 F.R.D. 393 (Gray v. United States Steel Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gray v. United States Steel Corp., 284 F.R.D. 393, 2012 WL 2421155, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88305 (N.D. Ind. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ANDREW P. RODOVICH, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court on the Motion for Clarification of Order [DE 50] filed by the defendant, United Steel Workers Union, Local 1014, on March 14, 2012, and the Affidavit of Attorney Fees [DE 54] filed by the plaintiff, Frank L. Gray, on March 26, 2012. For the reasons set forth below, the court GRANTS the Motion for Clarification of Order [DE 50], clarifies its March 12, 2012 Opinion and Order, and ORDERS the defen[395]*395dant, Local 1014, to pay attorney fees in the amount of $3,412.50.

Background

The plaintiff, Frank Gray, a retiree from United States Steel, filed a complaint against United States Steel Corporation and his union, United Steel Workers, Local 1014, alleging discrimination. Gray served Local 1014 with his first set of interrogatories and request for production on November 8, 2010. After several extensions of time, at the March 18, 2011 status conference, Gray requested that the court set March 31, 2011, as the deadline for responding to the outstanding discovery. The court set this deadline and directed that initial disclosures were due by May 13, 2011. Gray subsequently agreed to an additional extension of time to respond to the outstanding discovery, and Local 1014 served its responses on April 12, 2011. Gray gave Local 1014 his initial disclosures on May 13, 2011, but he did not receive any from Local 1014.

On June 22, 2011, Gray’s counsel called counsel for Local 1014 to discuss the insuffi-ciencies of its discovery responses and tardiness producing its initial disclosures. When Gray’s counsel did not receive a response, he sent a letter to Local 1014. In response to the letter, Local 1014’s counsel advised that he would supplement the responses by September 30, 2011. The deadline was extended by agreement of the parties to October 7, 2011, but Local 1014 failed to comply. Gray’s counsel contacted Local 1014, giving it until October 21 to respond. Local 1014 requested an additional three days, but as of November 1, 2011, Local 1014 had not supplemented its discovery responses or provided Gray with its initial disclosures.

Gray filed a motion to compel production of the initial disclosures and supplemental interrogatory responses on November 3, 2011, and a separate motion for sanctions. Local 1014 filed a short response indicating that it would tender its initial disclosures by November 18, 2011. Local 1014 explained that it did not provide supplemental responses to Gray’s interrogatories and requests for production because it believed settlement might moot many of the claims. Local 1014 stated that it would supplement its discovery responses in advance of oral depositions. Local 1014 did not raise any objection to Gray’s specific discovery requests in its response brief.

The court issued an Opinion and Order on March 12, 2012. The court directed Local 1014 to tender its initial disclosures within 14 days. At the time, the court was unaware that Local 1014 served its initial disclosures on November 23, 2011. The court further directed Local 1014 to serve complete responses to Gray’s discovery requests within 14 days of the Opinion and Order because Local 1014 acknowledged that its discovery responses required supplementation and did not raise any objections to the specific discovery requests.

Local 1014 filed the present motion for clarification on March 14, 2012. In its motion, Local 1014 states that it served its initial disclosures and asks the court to amend the March 12, 2012 Opinion and Order to reflect as such. Local 1014 also complains that the court did not address its objections to the specific discovery responses as stated in its response to Gray’s Interrogatories and filed as an attachment to Gray’s motion to compel. Local 1014 inquires whether it is required to conduct an additional investigation and provide the results of the investigation or whether it is required to provide responses to each of Gray’s interrogatories for which Gray requested additional information.

Discussion

Local 1014 first complains that the court’s March 12, 2012 Opinion and Order should have reflected that it already had served its initial disclosures. At the time Gray filed his motion to compel, Local 1014 had not served its initial disclosures. Local 1014 responded that it would tender its initial disclosures by November 18, 2011, however, Local 1014 previously had agreed to deadlines that it did not comply with. In fact, Local 1014 did not comply with the November 18, 2011 deadline. Local 1014’s initial disclosures were dated November 23, 2011, five days past its self-imposed deadline. The court acknowledges that Local 1014 served its initial disclosures, however, this does not forgive Local 1014’s [396]*396failure to comply with the court’s order to serve initial disclosures by May 13, 2011.

Local 1014 next asks the court to clarify whether it must provide supplemental responses to each of Gray’s discovery requests or whether it only is required to conduct an additional investigation and turn over those results. Local 1014 explains that its responses to Gray’s interrogatories and request for production were attached as an exhibit to Gray’s motion to compel and that the court did not consider Local 1014’s objections raised in response to each discovery request. Local 1014 indicated in response to Gray’s motion to compel that it would conduct an additional investigation and turn over its results, and Local 1014 reads the court’s order as requiring only that.

In his motion to compel, Gray went through a series of interrogatories for which he requested more information. Gray explained that Local 1014’s counsel agreed that the discovery requests were reasonable and that additional information would be forthcoming. Local 1014 responded that it would conduct an additional investigation and supplement its responses. Local 1014 did not raise any objections to the specific discovery requests in its response brief.

The burden “rests upon the objecting party to show why a particular discovery request is improper.” Gregg v. Local 305 IBEW, 2009 WL 1325103, *8 (N.D.Ind. May 13, 2009) (citing Kodish v. Oakbrook Terrace Fire Protection Dist., 235 F.R.D. 447, 449-50 (N.D.Ill.2006)); McGrath v. Everest National Ins. Co., 2009 WL 1325405, *3 (N.D.Ind. May 13, 2009) (internal citations omitted); Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, Inc. v. Hammond Professional Cleaning Services, 2009 WL 692224, *5 (N.D.Ind. March 12, 2009) (internal citations omitted). The objecting party must show with specificity that the request is improper. Cunningham v. Smithkline Beecham, 255 F.R.D. 474, 478 (N.D.Ind.2009) (citing Graham v. Casey’s General Stores, 206 F.R.D. 251, 254 (S.D.Ind. 2002)). That burden cannot be met by “a reflexive invocation of the same baseless, often abused litany that the requested discovery is vague, ambiguous, overly broad, unduly burdensome or that it is neither relevant nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Cunningham, 255 F.R.D. at 478 (citing Burkybile v. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., 2006 WL 2325506, *6 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 2, 2006)) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
284 F.R.D. 393, 2012 WL 2421155, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gray-v-united-states-steel-corp-innd-2012.