McNerney v. Archer Daniels Midland Co.

164 F.R.D. 584, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20405, 68 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,205, 1995 WL 818159
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedDecember 22, 1995
DocketNo. 94-CV-474S(H)
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 164 F.R.D. 584 (McNerney v. Archer Daniels Midland Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McNerney v. Archer Daniels Midland Co., 164 F.R.D. 584, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20405, 68 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,205, 1995 WL 818159 (W.D.N.Y. 1995).

Opinion

ORDER

HECKMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This case has been referred to the undersigned for pretrial matters, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). Defendant Archer Daniels Midland Company (“ADM”) has moved to (1) preclude plaintiff from introducing expert testimony regarding damages (Item 45),1 and (2) quash a subpoena directed to a third-party witness (Item 52). Plaintiff moves for an extension of time to conduct further discovery (Item 66). For the reasons that follow, the motion to preclude is denied, the motion to quash is granted, and the motion to extend time is denied.

BACKGROUND

This case provides a good reminder of the importance of observing the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and court orders. Plaintiffs failure to do either has generated another round of discovery motions in this case.

This is an action filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et. seq. and the New York state Human Rights Law § 296, et. seq. Plaintiff claims that his forced retirement was a product of age discrimination.

The procedural history of this case demonstrates that a preliminary pre-trial conference was held before the undersigned on October 7,1994. Following the conference, a scheduling order was issued setting a discovery cutoff of May 1, 1995, and requiring the plaintiff to identify experts through interrogatories by March 1, 1995, with defendant to provide corresponding information by April 1,1995.

In April of 1995, plaintiff moved to compel and to extend the scheduling order. Defendant cross-moved to compel and to change the location of certain depositions. On May 9, 1995, the district court extended discovery to June 9, 1995 pending the parties appearance before this court to argue the discovery motions. In an order dated May, 16, 1995, these motions were granted in part and denied in part, and a new scheduling order was set in place (Item 39). The new scheduling order required all discovery to conclude by September 1, 1995 and all motions to compel to be filed by July 1, 1995. As to expert disclosure, the order provided:

The plaintiff shall identify experts and provide written reports in compliance with Rule 26(a)(2), as amended in 1993, no later that June 1, 1995; the defendant shall [586]*586identify experts and provide written reports in compliance with Rule 26(a)(2), as amended in 1993, no later that July 1, 1995. See Rule 26 of the Local Rules for the Western District of New York as amended effective December 1,1994.

(Item 39, p. 2, ¶ 3(b)). The order further provided that “[n]o extension of the above cutoff dates will be granted except upon written joint motion, filed prior to the cutoff date, showing good cause for the extension. Applications must be made to the Magistrate Judge.” (Item 39, p. 3, ¶ 3(f)).

Meanwhile, on May 31, 1995, plaintiff filed a witness identification list which stated that Ronald R. Reiber would be an expert on economic damages (Item 40). The list included his qualifications and his publications. There was no written report submitted as required by Rule 26(a)(2)(B) and this court’s order.

Defendant informed plaintiff of this insufficiency and stated that it made it impossible to have its own rebuttal experts report available by the court deadline of July 1 (Item 42, Ex. 1). Plaintiff responded by stating that they did not have Mr. Reiber’s report and would hope to have it done by the end of July (almost two months after the court’s deadline). Neither party moved for extension of the deadlines for providing expert reports.

Thereafter, defendant issued a subpoena to the expert requiring him to produce the documents by July 14, 1995 and to appear at a deposition on August 15, 1995 (Item 46, Ex. 5).

On August 9, 1995, plaintiff submitted Mr. Reiber’s “report” (Item 46, Ex. 9). As defense counsel properly advised plaintiffs counsel, the report continued to be deficient in that it did not meet the requirements of Rule 26(a)(2)(B). Specifically, the report was not signed, it did not specify the data or other information considered by the witness in forming his opinions, it did not specify whether any exhibits would be used, it did not state the expert’s compensation, and it did not list the cases the expert had testified in. Indeed, it did not even state the expert’s opinions per se. It merely contained mathematical computations.

Plaintiff eventually forwarded a signed report along with documents used by his expert. These documents are not part of the record before the court.

Meanwhile, the parties agreed to depose Mr. Reiber on September 1, 1995 (Item 46, Ex. 14). However, the matter quickly degenerated into a dispute over compensation of the expert. The expert’s hourly rate was $150, and he requested a $2000 retainer fee up front (Id. at Ex. 11). Plaintiffs counsel demanded that the retainer be put into escrow. The defendant refused to escrow the fee but did agree to the hourly rate of $150 (Id. at Ex. 12; Item 51, Ex. D). The parties also disagreed on whether and to what extent the expert was entitled to an hourly rate for time spent preparing for the deposition. Because of these disputes, the deposition did not and has not taken place. The parties have requested the court to resolve the fee issue.

Meanwhile, the discovery deadline of September 1, 1995 passed without extension. On October 18, 1995, plaintiff served a subpoena on a third-party law firm that had handled a separate age discrimination lawsuit against ADM. The subpoena was issued out of the Western District of New York and required the third-party law firm to produce documents in Tennessee. The documents sought included pleadings, transcripts of all depositions and any confidentiality agreement entered into between third party law firm’s client and ADM in the unrelated age discrimination suit in Tennessee. The third-party law firm did not serve any objections to plaintiffs request.

Defendant now moves to exclude the expert’s testimony from trial and to quash the subpoena. Plaintiff moves for a continuance to conduct further discovery. Each argument will be addressed in turn.

DISCUSSION

I. Defendant’s Motion to Preclude Expert Testimony

Under Rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, each party is required to disclose the identity of any person who may be used at trial as an expert witness. The [587]*587rule further provides that disclosure shall “be accompanied by a written report prepared and signed by the witness.” Id. Parties must provide a signed written statement of all opinions to be expressed and the basis for the opinions; the data used in forming the opinion; any exhibits to be used in support of the opinions; the witness’ qualifications and compensation; and any other cases in which the witness had testified as an expert in the proceeding four years. The rule states that “these disclosures shall be made at the times and in the sequence directed by the court.” Id.

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164 F.R.D. 584, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20405, 68 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 44,205, 1995 WL 818159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcnerney-v-archer-daniels-midland-co-nywd-1995.