Hammond v. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc.

216 F.R.D. 666, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14878, 2003 WL 22006291
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedAugust 15, 2003
DocketNo. CIV.A. 02-2509-CM
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 216 F.R.D. 666 (Hammond v. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hammond v. Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 666, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14878, 2003 WL 22006291 (D. Kan. 2003).

Opinion

[669]*669 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WAXSE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Discovery Responses (doe. 25). Plaintiffs request an order compelling Defendant to withdraw its objections and fully respond to Plaintiffs’ Interrogatory Nos. 2-5, 8, 12, and 13. In addition, Plaintiffs seek their costs and expenses in filing this motion. Defendant has filed its response opposing Plaintiffs’ motion. For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Discovery Responses (doc. 25) will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of themselves and other similarly-situated employees of Defendant to recover unpaid overtime compensation, unpaid minimum wage compensation, liquidated damages attorney fees and costs, under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).1 Plaintiffs allege that Defendant’s Salaried Plus Overtime-Eligible Plan fails to fully compensate them and other similarly-situated individuals in accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 207(f) or 29 C.F.R. § 778.114, which provide guidelines for payment of fixed salary for fluctuating hours. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant improperly deducts amounts from employees’ salaries for partial day absences, that Plaintiffs did not work irregular hours, and that their hours routinely exceeded forty hours per week.

Plaintiffs filed their Complaint on October 1, 2002. The Court conducted the Rule 16(b) scheduling conference on February 18, 2003. On March 4, 2003, Plaintiffs served their First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant. On April 30, 2003, Defendant served its Answers to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories in which it asserted various objections to the interrogatories at issue in this motion.

After attempting to confer with Defendant to resolve the issue without court action, as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(2)(A) and D. Kan. Rule 37.2, Plaintiffs filed the instant motion to compel discovery responses from Defendant on May 30,2003.

II. Waiver of Defendant’s Objections to Plaintiffs’ Interrogatories

The Court first addresses Plaintiffs’ contention that Defendant has waived its objections to Plaintiffs’ Interrogatories under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(b). This rule provides that “[t]he party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall serve a copy of the answers, and objections, if any, within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories.”2 Furthermore, “[a]ny ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the party’s failure to object is excused by the court for good cause shown.”3

Applying this rule, Defendant’s answers and objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories appear untimely, and thus appear waived. Plaintiffs served their First Set of Interrogatories upon Defendant on March 4, 2003. Pursuant to Rule 33(b)(3), the deadline for Defendant to serve its answers and objections to the interrogatories would have been April 3, 2003. Defendant did not serve its answers and objections to Plaintiffs’ Interrogatories until April 30, 2003, clearly after the Rule 33(b)(3) deadline for serving answers and objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories.

Defendant asserts that it has good cause for the delay in serving its answers and objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories. It argues that it has cooperated with Plaintiffs with respect to discovery in good faith, and Plaintiffs have no basis to claim that its discovery objections have been waived. In addition, Defendant states it has worked extensively with Plaintiffs’ counsel to cooperatively exchange discovery information in this case without strict adherence to time limitations, and it has not objected when Plaintiffs required additional time to respond to discovery. It argues that it would be wholly inequitable for Plaintiffs to now claim that Defendant has lost its ability to assert [670]*670objections to discovery requests by calling upon the strict time limitations in spite of the parties’ cooperative efforts thus far in the case.

Based upon the fact that neither party has strictly complied with the discovery deadlines in this case, the Court finds that it would be inequitable to deem Defendant’s answers and objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories as waived. The Court therefore will excuse Defendant’s failure to timely serve its objections for good cause shown and will consider Defendant’s objections to Plaintiffs’ First Set of Interrogatories.

III. Interrogatories at Issue

A. Interrogatory Nos. 2 and 3

Plaintiffs’ Interrogatory No. 2 requests that Defendant identify “all regions and/or districts designated by Defendant company in which a ‘Salaried Plus Overtime-Eligible Plan’ similar to that utilized in the Shawnee, Kansas store has been used by Defendant.” Interrogatory No. 3 seeks identification of any states, sales districts, or sales regions that are not currently using a Salaried Plus Overtime-Eligible Plan similar to that utilized in Defendant’s Shawnee, Kansas store. Defendant objects to these interrogatories as overbroad, and on the grounds that they seek information that is not relevant. After asserting its objections, Defendant answered that it “utilizes ‘Salaried Plus Overtime-Eligible Plans’ for certain non-exempt job classifications in all Lowe’s stores within District 1254.”

Plaintiffs’ motion requests that the Court compel Defendant to answer these interrogatories without limiting the answers to the district in which named Plaintiffs were employed. They claim that this information concerning the locations in which Defendant’s Salaried Plus Overtime-Eligible Plan is utilized, and the locations in which it is not currently utilized, is relevant to their claims. In response, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs are not entitled to information that does not relate to their own claims for additional overtime wages because they have failed to move for provisional certification of a collective action. Defendant additionally argues that Plaintiffs have failed to explain why information related to compensation decisions in other parts of the country would be relevant to compensation calculations for employees at its Shawnee, Kansas store.

1. Relevancy objections

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) provides that “[pjarties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of any party----Relevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” 4

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216 F.R.D. 666, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14878, 2003 WL 22006291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hammond-v-lowes-home-centers-inc-ksd-2003.