Martin v. Allstate Insurance

292 F.R.D. 361, 2013 WL 1352070, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50675
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedApril 4, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 3:12-CV-00923-G-BK
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 292 F.R.D. 361 (Martin v. Allstate Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. Allstate Insurance, 292 F.R.D. 361, 2013 WL 1352070, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50675 (N.D. Tex. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

RENÉE HARRIS TOLIVER, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pursuant to the District Court’s Standing Order of Reference filed February 20, 2013 (Doc. 28), Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order (Doc. 21), Plaintiffs Motion to Compel (Doc. 26), and Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Appendix to Reply Brief (Doc. 33) have been referred to this Court for determination. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order (Doc. 21) and Plaintiffs Motion to Compel (Doe. 26) are GRANTED IN PART. Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Appendix to Reply Brief (Doc. 33) is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

In this employment discrimination ease, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violated the Texas Labor Code when it fired her due to her age. (Doc. 1-5 at 5-6). Plaintiff claims that she worked for Defendant in its South Texas Property Market Claim Office (“MCO”) as an outside claims adjuster, and her supervisor told her she was being terminated due to several unacceptable responses to customer satisfaction surveys (known as “ERI surveys”). Id. at 2-4. In response to Plaintiffs propounded discovery and corporate representative deposition notice, Defendant now moves for a protective order. (Doc. 21). Plaintiff has responded to Defendant’s motion and cross-moved to compel. (Doe. 26).

II. APPLICABLE LAW

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) provides that, unless the court orders otherwise, the parties may obtain discovery regarding any relevant, nonprivileged matter. A party may move to compel a discovery response under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(3), and, for good cause, the court can order discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter of the action as long as the discovery sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Relevant information includes “any matter that bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 351, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978).

III. DISCOVERY SOUGHT AND ANALYSIS

A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Corporate Representative 30(b)(6) Deposition

1. “Non-Merits” Based Discovery

Plaintiffs proposed Rule 30(b)(6) deposition Topics 2-7 include (1) Defendant’s document retention policies; (2) Defendant’s efforts in responding to Plaintiffs discovery; (3) Defendant’s computer systems; (4) the date by which Defendant anticipated that Plaintiff would sue; and (5) Defendant’s efforts, including any instructions to employees, to preserve documents and electronic information relevant to the anticipated suit. (Doc. 23-1 at 3).

Defendant seeks a protective order as to these Topics on the basis that they seek non-merits based discovery concerning Defendant’s document preservation and production policies, which is burdensome, irrelevant and harassing because there is no evidence to suggest that it has lost or destroyed any documents in this ease. (Doe. 22 at 21-22).

[364]*364Plaintiff responds that the discovery-sought is relevant because Defendant failed to timely and fully produce key documents in response to Plaintiffs first Request for Production. (Doc. 27 at 19-20). As to Topic 4, which seeks testimony about Defendant’s email systems, databases, applications, and computer networks, Plaintiff argues that the discovery is relevant because Defendant refuses to identify its computer systems so that Plaintiff can make a decision about its proposal to use search terms to locate responsive discovery. Id. at 20. In relation to Topic 5, which seeks testimony about when Defendant anticipated Plaintiff would file suit, Plaintiff contends she needs to establish when Defendant should have begun preserving documents relevant to her claim, as Defendant has not produced many documents that it should have. Id. at 21.

Defendant replies that it was not until more than four months after it responded to Plaintiffs first Request for Production that she notified Defendant she had problems with the responses. (Doc. 32 at 7). Defendant maintains that it supplemented its document production after Plaintiff clarified her discovery requests and sent her second Request for Production. Id. at 7-8.

Upon consideration of the parties’ arguments, the Court agrees with Defendant that deposition Topics 2-7 are overbroad and irrelevant. While Plaintiff speculates that Defendant may have additional documentation that it has not produced, there is no evidence to support that supposition at this point. Defendant’s explanation for the manner in which it has produced documents, based on Plaintiffs staggered discovery requests and clarifications, is plausible. Moreover, defense counsel are surely aware that they are under an ongoing obligation to supplement their discovery responses if additional responsive information is located. Fed. R.Civ.P. 26(e)(1). As to Topic 4, which seeks testimony about Defendant’s computer systems, if Defendant refuses to supply the necessary information, Plaintiff is under no obligation to accept Defendant’s request to use search terms to locate responsive discovery. Defendant will simply be obligated to manually search for the requested documents.

2. Overbreadth and Relevance Objections to Topics 1, 8, 9, 12-22, 24, 25 and 271

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292 F.R.D. 361, 2013 WL 1352070, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-allstate-insurance-txnd-2013.