Lowe v. District of Columbia

250 F.R.D. 36, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40525, 2008 WL 2130157
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMay 21, 2008
DocketCivil Action No. 05-2205 (CKK/JMF)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 250 F.R.D. 36 (Lowe v. District of Columbia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lowe v. District of Columbia, 250 F.R.D. 36, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40525, 2008 WL 2130157 (D.D.C. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN M. FACCIOLA, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before me is Plaintiff Thyra Lowe’s Motion to Compel Defendants to Fully Answer All Interrogatories and to Comply with All Document Production Requests Submitted in Discovery and for Sanctions Against Defendants [# 30] (“Motion”), which was referred to me for resolution by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. For the reasons stated below, the Motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Lowe alleges in this action that she was unlawfully terminated when her employer, the District of Columbia Department of Health (“DOH”), eliminated her position “in retaliation for [her] speaking out against violations of District of Columbia and federal regulations and laws, and for other protected activity disclosing waste, fraud, abuse, and gross mismanagement.” Amended Complaint for Unlawful Employment Retaliation [# 14] at 2. She brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the District of Columbia Whistleblower Reinforcement Act against defendants District of Columbia (the “District”), Gregory Payne1, Monica Lamboy, Thomas Calhoun, and Cheryl Edwards.

A. Plaintiff’s Motion

The Motion before the Court involves what Lowe alleges to be defendants’ inadequate responses to her interrogatories and document requests. She seeks: (1) an order compelling defendants to fully respond to her discovery requests; (2) an award of attorneys fees and costs incurred in the preparation of the Motion; and (3) a sanction prohibiting defendants from asserting any further objections to the discovery requests. Proposed Order, attached to Motion. In opposing the Motion, defendants argue that their discovery responses are sufficient and/or would be supplemented. Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Compel and for Sanctions (“Opposition” or “Opp.”).

B. Defendants’ Supplemental Production

On January 7, 2008, defendants’ filed Defendants’ Supplemental Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Compel and for Sanctions [# 40] (“Supplement” or “Supp.”), in which they informed the Court that they had supplemented their discovery responses. The Court, on February 4, 2008, ordered Lowe to describe whether this supplemental production had remedied any of the deficiencies she alleged in her Motion. In accordance with that order, Lowe filed Plaintiff’s Reply to Supplemental Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Following Supplemental Responses (“Reply to Supp.”), in which she withdrew some of her initial objections.

C. Discovery Responses at Issue

The following chart indicates which discovery responses remain at issue:

Document Document
Interrogatory Interrogatory Request Request
Objections Objections Objections Objections
Defendant_Withdrawn_Remaining_Withdrawn_Remaining
District of Nos. 5-6, Nos. 3,7, — Nos. 1-6
Columbia_8-10, and 16_11-15. and 21_
Gregory Payne_~_Nos. 1 and 6_™_All
Monica Lamboy No. 2 Nos. 3-4,6, — All
_15-16. and 18_
Thomas Calhoun_™_~_ — _All
Cheryl Edwards_ — _™_zz_All
II. Analysis A. Requests for Production of Documents

[38]*381. The District’s Document Production

As mentioned above, the District has produced additional documents in the time since the Motion was filed. Lowe acknowledges that at least some of these documents are responsive, but she “is not prepared to withdraw her Motion to Compel until such time as the detailed review of the documents submitted can be completed.” Reply to Supp. at 7. It would be imprudent for the Court to rule on objections that may already be remedied; as such, Lowe’s objections to the District’s document production will be dismissed without prejudice with leave to re-file after completion of her “detailed review.”

2. The Document Production of Lam-boy, Calhoun and Edwards

Lowe objects in her Motion to the entire document production of Lamboy, Calhoun and Edwards; none of these individual defendants have produced any documents, either initially or in the supplemental production.

Lamboy responded to each document request:

None. I do not have possession, custody, or control of hard-copy documents within the scope of this request as I am no longer employed by the Department of Health. I may have possession, custody, or control of some electronic documents within the scope of this request and am attempting to identify such documents.

Id. at 29-30. Calhoun responded to each document request:

No such documents are in my care, contact, and/or custody. To the extent that such documents do exist, see the District of Columbia’s Responses to Plaintiffs Request for Production, Exhibit 4.

Id. at 29. Edwards responded to each document request:

None. I do not have possession, custody, or control of documents within the scope of this request as I am no longer employed by the Department of Health. To the extent that such documents do exist, see the District of Columbia’s Responses to Plaintiffs Request for Production, Exhibit 4.

Id. at 30.

Lowe argues that each of these defendants has been named in their personal and official capacity and, as a result, “share a duty [with the District] to provide all documents responsive to these requests.” Id. at 29-31 (emphasis in original). Moreover, Lowe argues that “[e]ven if [they] no longer ha[ve] personal access to such documents [they have] a duty to find and provide such documents.” Id. Defendants respond that Lamboy, Calhoun and Edwards are no longer employed by DOH Emergency Health and Medical Services Administration (“EHMSA”) and therefore have no access to the requested documents. Opp. at 2. Defendants also proffer that their counsel “has either met with or spoken to each of these defendants and they have assured undersigned counsel that they do not have any documents in their care, control, custody or possession relating to this matter.” Id.

Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure limits document requests to those documents “in the responding party’s possession, custody, or control.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 34(a)(1). Former employees of government agencies do not have “possession, custody, or control” of documents held by their former employers.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 F.R.D. 36, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40525, 2008 WL 2130157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lowe-v-district-of-columbia-dcd-2008.