Johnson v. Ford Motor Co.

309 F.R.D. 226, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115425
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. West Virginia
DecidedAugust 28, 2015
DocketCase No.: 3:13-cv-06529, Case No.: 3:13-cv-14207, Case No.: 3:13-cv-20976
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 309 F.R.D. 226 (Johnson v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Ford Motor Co., 309 F.R.D. 226, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115425 (S.D.W. Va. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER

Cheryl A. Eifert, United States Magistrate Judge

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Defendant Ford Motor Company to Produce Documents Listed in its Supplemental ASO (Automotive Safety Office) Privilege Log and for Sanctions. (ECF [229]*229No. 536).1 Defendant Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) has filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion, (ECF No. 551), and Plaintiffs have replied, (ECF No. 569). Plaintiffs’ motion relates to 132 documents that Ford has claimed are shielded from discovery due to attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product immunity. (ECF No. 536-7 at 3-68). On August 18, 2015, the Court heard oral argument on the motion and ruled that the supplemental privilege log supplied by Ford was insufficient under Federal Rule of CM Procedure 26(b)(5)(A). (ECF No. at 591 at 51, 54). This memorandum opinion and order follows the Court’s ruling and confirms that Plaintiffs’ motion is GRANTED insofar as Ford Ml be required to again supplement its ASO privilege log with more detail describing the documents therein. Ford is ORDERED to provide the updated ASO privilege log to Plaintiffs within ten (10) days of the date of this Order. In addition, Plaintiffs are GRANTED reasonable fees and costs associated with bringing this motion. Plaintiffs are instructed to provide the requisite information regarding fees and costs within fourteen (14) days of the date of this Order.

I. Relevant Facts

These cases involve alleged events of sudden unintended acceleration in certain Ford vehicles manufactured between 2002 and 2010. In particular, Plaintiffs claim that their vehicles were equipped with defective electronic throttle control (“ETC”) systems, which were not fault tolerant, resulting in open throttle events during which the drivers of the vehicles lacked the ability to control the throttles. Plaintiffs assert that the mechanisms causing the throttles to open unexpectedly were numerous, included electromagnetic interference, resistive shorts, and other voltage and resistance fluctuations, and that these issues were known to Ford. Despite having knowledge of the potential for sudden unexpected acceleration, Ford nonetheless failed to properly design the ETC system to correct the events when they occurred, and further neglected to install fail-safes, such as a Brake Over Accelerator system, which would allow the drivers to physically prevent or mitigate sudden acceleration.

In the course of discovery, Plaintiffs requested that Ford produce documents, including studies, reports, analyses, and memoranda, related to alleged unintended acceleration in the class vehicles. (ECF No. 536-2 at 4, 28-29). Specifically at issue here, Plaintiffs requested that Ford produce the ASO reports and databases for any alleged unintended acceleration event in a Ford vehicle equipped with the ETC system. (Id. at 27-28). Plaintiffs also requested the production of documents related to any government correspondence or investigations concerning unintended accelerations in Ford vehicles equipped with the ETC system. (Id. at 33-34). On October 24, 2014, after producing non-privileged documents responsive to Plaintiffs’ request, Ford provided Plaintiffs with a privilege log related to its 2010 ASO investigation into sudden unintended acceleration. (ECF No. 536-1 at 2-67; ECF No. 551 at 3). According to Ford, the ASO investigation was undertaken after the Wall Street Journal published an article in 2010 concerning complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in Ford vehicles. (ECF No. 551 at 2-3). The article was based on findings from vehicle owner questionnaires issued by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), (Id. at 2). At the time that the article was released, Ford asserts it was defending several lawsuits related to claims of unintended acceleration. (Id. at 2-3). According to Ford, in connection with those lawsuits and the article, Ford’s Office of the General Counsel (“OGC”) began an investigation of the vehicle owner questionnaires and Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (“TREAD”) Act submissions with the assistance of Ford’s ASO. (Id. at 3).

[230]*230On March 25, 2015, the parties met and conferred about the sufficiency of Ford’s ASO privilege log. (ECF No. 536 at 2). According to Plaintiffs’ counsel, they informed Ford’s counsel that the ASO privilege log failed to adequately describe each document withheld by Ford. (Id.) Plaintiffs’ counsel also questioned whether the “vast majority” of documents were indeed shielded from disclosure given their descriptions as “spreadsheets” or “charts,” which Plaintiffs interpreted to mean that those documents contained only “raw data or factual information.” (Id.) In addition, Plaintiffs’ counsel expressed their belief that the documents may not be privileged because they were not authored by an attorney or anyone at Ford’s OGC, and the documents were sent to both attorneys and non-attorneys. (Id. at 2-3). The following day, Ford’s counsel sent an email confirming that Ford would review its privilege logs and determine whether additional information could be provided. (ECF No. 536-3 at 2). On April 6, 2015, Plaintiffs’ counsel inquired about the status of Ford’s counsel’s privilege log review, and Ford’s counsel replied the next day, confirming that Ford would supplement its privilege logs. (ECF No. 536-4 at 2; ECF No. 536-5 at 2). On April 15, 2015, the Court conducted a regularly scheduled telephonic discovery conference and addressed the privilege log issue. (ECF No. 536-6 at 3-4). Specifically, the undersigned noted that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 requires a privilege log to contain enough information so that the receiving party may determine whether to challenge the privilege. (Id. at 4).

On May 19, 2015, Ford produced a supplemental ASO privilege log to Plaintiffs. (ECF No. 536-7 at 3-68). Distinguishing the supplemental privilege log from the original privilege log is the addition of file names for the documents listed. (Id.) By way of example, the first two rows of the privilege log appear as such:

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(Id. at 3). All 132 documents listed in the privilege log are described in one of two ways — the first is the description in the table above, and the second states that the document is a “[cjonfidential communication containing an analysis prepared by authorized agent consultant of Ford for and at the request of Ford’s Office of the General Counsel to assist Ford’s attorneys with pending and anticipated litigation.” (Id. at 3-68).

On June 9, 2015, Plaintiffs filed the instant motion to compel and for sanctions. (ECF No. 536). Plaintiffs contend that the supplemental ASO privilege log is deficient because Ford has failed to describe the documents listed in sufficient detail for Plaintiffs to determine whether the attorney-client privilege or attorney work-product protection applies. (Id. at 6-16). Plaintiffs argue that the addition of file names to the ASO privilege log does nothing to clarify whether the listed [231]*231documents are indeed privileged. (Id. at 9).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
309 F.R.D. 226, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-ford-motor-co-wvsd-2015.