Miles v. Boeing Co.

154 F.R.D. 117, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2744, 65 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 43,191, 1994 WL 110046
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided March 4, 1994·No. Civ. A. No. 93-3063·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NAYTHONS, United States Magistrate Judge.

Presently before this Court is the Motion of Plaintiff, Arthur William Miles, to Compel Production of Documents and extend the deadline for discovery, and the Response of Defendant, Boeing Company. The plaintiff has brought this civil action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (“Title VII”) and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, to remedy employment discrimination on the basis of race. The Complaint alleges that plaintiff,. Arthur Miles, who is black, was demoted from the position of Hy[119] draulic Component Mechanic A in August, 1991, and that he was not selected for an opening in the same position in September, 1991, because of his race. Boeing contends that Miles was removed from the Hydraulic Component Mechanic A position in August, 1991 because of a labor surplus, and that the selection of a white employee, Gerald Chorney, to fill the position in September 1991 was appropriate under its labor contract.

In the present Motion to Compel, plaintiff requests the production of all documents responsive to requests nos. 4, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 21. Boeing has agreed to produce documents responsive to requests nos. 13, 14, 15 and 16. Therefore, they will be produced consistent with the time frame ordered by this Court. However, Boeing filed a motion for a protective order for requests nos. 4, 18 and 19. On March 2, 1994, I granted defendant’s motion for a protective order, but found those documents responsive to requests nos. 4, 18 and 19 relevant. Therefore, defendant was ordered to produce them subject to the protective order. Since Boeing agrees to produce Request No. 4 subject to a protective order, they will be required to produce the documents as set forth in the Order by this Court on March 2, 1994.1

In addition to its Motion for a Protective Order, Boeing continues to argue that requests nos. 18 and 19 are “overbroad and not likely to lead to the discovery of relevant information.” Defendant’s Memorandum in Opposition at 3. In Request No. 18, plaintiff has sought documents from Boeing’s labor-reporting system that records the number of hours actually worked on each task by an employee from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 1993. See Plaintiffs Request No. 18. Request No. 19, plaintiff has sought Operations and Inspection (“0 & IR”) Records from Boeing’s production shop that refurbishes absorbers for military helicopters from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 1991. See Plaintiffs Request No. 19. Boeing asserts that the events that gave rise to this suit occurred in early August and late September of 1991. They contend that production of documents from months other than June through September of 1991 is irrelevant to plaintiffs lawsuit.

DISCUSSION

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide broad guidelines for discovery of “any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Discovery need not be confined to matters of admissible evidence but may encompass that which “appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Id. See also Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978). In addition, “the imposition of unnecessary limitations on discovery is especially to be avoided in Title VII cases,” because of the nature of the proofs required to demonstrate unlawful discrimination may often be indirect or circumstantial. Robbins v. Camden City Bd. of Educ., 105 F.R.D. 49, 55 (D.N.J.1985). Nonetheless, the responses sought must comport with the traditional notions of relevancy and must not impose an undue burden on the responding party. Id.

In Title VII cases, courts have imposed restrictions on discovery as to time period. Hardrick v. Legal Services Corp., 96 F.R.D. 617 (D.D.C.1983). However, the scope of discovery is commonly extended to a reasonable number of years prior to the defendants’ alleged illegal action and also for periods after the alleged discrimination. Clarke v. Mellon Bank, No. 92-4823, 1993 WL 170950, *2, 1993 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 6680, *5 (E.D.Pa. May 11, 1993). See e.g., McClain v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 85 F.R.D. 53, 63 (E.D.Pa.1979) (five years prior to plaintiffs termination) and Milner v. National School of Health Tech., 73 F.R.D. 628 (E.D.Pa.1977) (two years after termination). Plaintiff requests documents for a period just over two years from the date of plaintiffs [120] alleged discrimination. This request is not overly broad and is relevant to show any change in Boeing’s labor needs during the alleged discrimination and shortly before and after it. This evidence is likely to lead to the discovery of information that Boeing’s stated reason for rejecting plaintiff was a pretext. Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978).

Amended Document Request No. 21 requests “every document pertaining to any change in Boeing’s manpower requirements for any position in the Hydraulic Family Group (Hydraulic Component Mechanic A and B and Electrical Component Mechanic A and B) from January 1,1991 to December 31, 1993.” Boeing objects to the time frame of this request stating that the relevant time period is from June through September of 1991 and all documents have been produced through that period. The scope of discovery that includes several months prior to and two years after the alleged illegal action is a reasonable request. See e.g., Clarke, supra; McClain, supra; Milner, supra. Plaintiffs request is not overly broad and is relevant to show any change in Boeing’s labor requirements. It is also relevant to show Boeing’s general policy and practice with respect to employment of the protected class and for the computation of lost wages. Accordingly, I find that this information is to be produced by Boeing.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Miles v. Boeing Co., 154 F.R.D. 117, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2744, 65 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 43,191, 1994 WL 110046 (E.D. Pa. 1994).

154 F.R.D. 117 (Miles v. Boeing Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Untitled Case
S.D. New York, 2026
Smith v. Scottsdale Insurance
40 F. Supp. 3d 704 (N.D. West Virginia, 2014)
Go v. Rockefeller University
280 F.R.D. 165 (S.D. New York, 2012)
Murphy v. Kmart Corp.
255 F.R.D. 497 (D. South Dakota, 2009)
Glenn v. Williams
209 F.R.D. 279 (District of Columbia, 2002)
Onwuka v. Federal Express Corp.
178 F.R.D. 508 (D. Minnesota, 1997)
Cornelius v. Consolidated Rail Corp.
169 F.R.D. 250 (N.D. New York, 1996)
Obiajulu v. City of Rochester, Department of Law
166 F.R.D. 293 (W.D. New York, 1996)
Blades v. Woods
667 A.2d 917 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1995)