Holter v. Wells Fargo & Co.

281 F.R.D. 340, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156418, 2011 WL 7971447
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMay 4, 2011
DocketNo. 0:10-cv-04247 (JRT/JSM)
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 281 F.R.D. 340 (Holter v. Wells Fargo & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holter v. Wells Fargo & Co., 281 F.R.D. 340, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156418, 2011 WL 7971447 (mnd 2011).

Opinion

[341]*341 MEMORANDUM

JANIE S. MAYERON, United States Magistrate Judge.

A. Motion to Compel Medical Information, Authorizations and Records

This case arises out of plaintiffs claims of disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) against defendant. See Complaint, ¶¶ 23-33. Plaintiff alleged that she has suffered from impairments, in the form of anxiety and depression, since 1993. Id,., ¶ 7. Plaintiff represented that she is seeking $300,000 in emotional distress damages from defendant ($150,000 past damage and $150,000 in future damages). See Declaration of Patrick R. Martin in Support of Defendant Wells Fargo’s Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Compel (“Martin Deck”), Ex. N (Rule 26 Initial Disclosures). Defendant seeks discovery concerning plaintiffs physical and mental health history for a period of ten years (1991-2011) years via Interrogatory Nos. 4 and 5, and has requested that plaintiff sign authorizations releasing all of her medical and mental health records to defendant. Defendant’s interrogatories and plaintiffs responses are as follows:

INTERROGATORY NO. 4: Do you claim mental anguish, emotional distress, pain and suffering, and/or physical injury in this lawsuit? If your answer to this interrogatory is in the affirmative, identify every medical care provider, physician, clinic, hospital, treatment center, counseling facility, holistic medicine facility, and/or rehabilitation facility with whom or with which you have ever consulted, sought, and/or obtained mental, emotional, or physical consultation, examination, care, or treatment of any kind at any time in your life, including but not limited to those from whom you have sought treatment for the depression, anxiety, and/or other health issues you allege in this lawsuit. If medical records are not available, for each such medical care provider, physician, clinic, hospital, treatment center, counseling facility, holistic medicine facility, and/or rehabilitation facility for which no record is available, provide detail regarding each visit or session, including information such as: the name, address, and telephone number of the provider, facility, and/or professional; the condition for which you sought consultation, examination, care, or treatment; the date(s) of each such consultation, examination, care or treatment; the diagnosis and prognosis given at each such visit or session; and the treatment received, including medication and/or hospitalization. If your answer to this interrogatory is in the affirmative, please also fill out, execute, and provide an Authorization to Release Medical Information form served herewith for each healthcare provider identified in your answer.
Response: Plaintiff objects to this interrogatory to the extent that it is overly broad and unduly burdensome. Plaintiff also objects to this interrogatory to the extent that it seeks information protected by the medical privilege. Plaintiff further objects to this interrogatory to the extent it seeks irrelevant information not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Without waiving said objections, Plaintiff will supplement her response upon execution of a mutually agreeable confidentiality agreement. Discovery is continuing.
INTERROGATORY NO. 5: Set forth in detail each and every fact and identify all documents and witnesses that support or refute the allegations contained in your Complaint that, during your employment with Defendant, you suffered from depression, anxiety, and/or other health issues. In answering this Interrogatory, please provide the following information: the specific condition(s) you suffered; when you suffered the conditions(s); any and all. diagnoses, treatments, medical care, and/or medications you received or underwent due to the same; all medical reports and records pertaining to the same; and the identity of all healthcare providers from whom you sought treatment for the same.
Response: Plaintiff objects to this interrogatory to the extent that it is overly broad and unduly burdensome. Plaintiff also objects to this interrogatory as it seeks information that is not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of ad[342]*342missible evidence and is protected by medical privilege. Without waiving said objections, Plaintiff will supplement her answer upon execution of a mutually agreeable confidentiality agreement. Discovery is continuing.

Id., Ex. D.

The proposed authorization propounded by defendant provided in relevant part:

I, the undersigned, do hereby authorize the above named care provider to release any and all information relating to me, to communicate with and to permit Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., or any agent or employee thereof, to obtain, inspect, and copy any medical record or records of my condition or treatment, including but not limited to reports, treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, physical therapy, nutrition, occupational rehabilitation, mental health, psychologists, prosthesis, and psychiatric records, and films of diagnostic imaging such as x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc., while a patient of or under treatment by said care provider, and I further authorize said care provider to permit Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., or any agent or employee thereof, to obtain and make copies of all such records.

(Emphasis added).

Defendant argued that it is entitled to plaintiffs medical records because she has placed her mental, physical and emotional health in controversy, including her claims that she is disabled based on her mental impairments and her allegations that she suffered $300,0001 of damages for her emotional distress as the result of defendant’s actions. See Defendant Wells Fargo’s Memorandum of Law in Support of its Motion to Compel (“Def.’s Mem.”), pp. 7-8. Plaintiff countered that she has not placed her physical health in controversy, and her garden-variety emotional distress claim does not open the door for defendant to have unfettered access to her entire medical file for the last twenty years. See Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Compel (“Pl.’s Mem.”), pp. 7-9. Plaintiff offered to produce mental health records for a period of time beginning three years prior to when she began taking medications for her depression and anxiety through her termination in May 2007. Id., p. 8.

The discoverability of medical records is governed by the relevancy standard of Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and not the “in controversy” standard required for an independent medical examination (“IME”) under Rule 35. See Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 379 U.S. 104, 117, 85 S.Ct. 234, 13 L.Ed.2d 152 (1964) (“[I]n none of the other discovery provisions is there a restriction that the matter be ‘in controversy,’ and only in Rule 34 is there Rule 35’s requirement that the movant affirmatively demonstrate ‘good cause.’ ”);2 Schoffstall v. Henderson,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
281 F.R.D. 340, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156418, 2011 WL 7971447, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holter-v-wells-fargo-co-mnd-2011.