Nolan v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Health & Welfare & Pension Funds, Local 705

199 F.R.D. 272, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3828, 2001 WL 184805
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 23, 2001
DocketNo. 99 C 4524
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 199 F.R.D. 272 (Nolan v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Health & Welfare & Pension Funds, Local 705) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nolan v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Health & Welfare & Pension Funds, Local 705, 199 F.R.D. 272, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3828, 2001 WL 184805 (N.D. Ill. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

BOBRICK, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the court is the motion of defendant International Brotherhood Of Teamsters Health & Welfare And Pension Funds, Local 705 for leave to conduct a psychological examination of plaintiff.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 23,1999, plaintiff, who is presently employed by the defendant, filed a complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000-2 et seq. and the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (cite) alleging that defendant violated her civil rights by engaging in sexually harassing conduct and gender bias against her. In her amended complaint, plaintiff seeks damages for emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, and mental anguish. (Plaintiffs Amended Complaint, p. 6) On August 3, 2000, defendant filed its motion seeking the court to compel plaintiff to submit to a psychological examination under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 35”). In its motion defendant argues that because plaintiff has pled such “intangible harms” as emotional pain and suffering and mental anguish as an element of her damages, plaintiff has placed her mental condition in controversy in this case. (Defendant’s Motion, at ¶ 5). The defendant thus claims that the requisite “in controversy” and “good cause” elements under Rule 35 are sufficiently satisfied for this court to order the psychological examination of the plaintiff. (Id.).

The plaintiff, on the other hand, argues in her response to defendant’s motion that while she does seek compensation for emotional pain and suffering resulting from defendant’s allegedly wrongful treatment, she “merely seeks compensation for her humiliation and embarrassment.” (Plaintiffs Response, at 1). Plaintiff claims, in essence, that her mental condition is not placed in controversy in this litigation as required under Rule 35 simply by seeking damages for emotional pain and suffering as an element of her prayer for relief. She argues that the damages sought are limited to humiliation and embarrassment and that she has not asserted claims for damages in her complaint requiring proof by expert testimony.

II. ANALYSIS

Rule 35 provides in relevant part:

(a) Order for Examination. When the mental or physical condition (including the blood group) of a party or of a person in [274]*274the custody or under the legal control of a party, is in controversy, the court in which the action is pending may order the party to submit to a physical or mental examination by a suitably licensed or certified examiner or to produce for examination the person in the party’s custody or legal control. The order may be made only on a motion for good cause shown and upon notice to the person to be examined and to all parties and shall specify the time, place, manner, conditions, and scope of the examination and the person or persons by whom it is to be made.

Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 35(a).

The leading case in regards to Rule 35 examinations, as duly noted by both parties, is Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 379 U.S. 104, 85 S.Ct. 234, 13 L.Ed.2d 152 (1964). That case involved a Rule 35 motion to compel a battery of physical and psychological examinations in a negligence action upon a bus driver defendant by co-defendants who asserted as a defense that the bus driver was not mentally or physically capable of driving the bus. Id. at 107-09, 85 S.Ct. 234. While the Distinct Court had ordered that the defendant undergo the examinations and the Appellate Court denied a writ of mandamus by that defendant seeking to have the order set aside, the Supreme Court seized the opportunity “to review undecided questions concerning ... the construction of Rule 35. Id. at 109, 85 S.Ct. 234. The Supreme Court viewed the insertion of the phrases “in controversy” and “good cause” in the language of the rule as a “plainly expressed limitation” on the rule’s use. Id. at 118, 85 S.Ct. 234. The Court thus concluded, “[r]ule 35, ... requires discriminating application by the trial judge, who must decide, as an initial matter in every case, whether the party requesting a mental or physical examination or examinations has adequately demonstrated the existence of the Rule’s requirements of “in controversy” and “good cause,” which requirements, ... are necessarily related.” Id. at 118-19, 85 S.Ct. 234.

Both plaintiff and defendant in the instant case have cited portions of the Schlagenhauf opinion and naturally, each citation appears to support the party’s position that quoted it. If the truth be told, Schlagenhauf does not really answer the precise question before this Court. On the one hand, the Schlagenhauf Court stated that the “in controversy” and “good cause” requirements “are not met by mere conelusory allegations of the pleadings — nor by mere relevance to the case— but require an affirmative showing by the movant that each condition as to which the examination is sought is really and genuinely in controversy and that good cause exists for ordering each particular examination.” Id. at 118, 85 S.Ct. 234. On the other hand, the Court stated, “[o]f course, there are situations where the pleadings alone are sufficient to meet these requirements. A plaintiff in a negligence action who asserts mental or physical injury places that mental or physical injury clearly in controversy and provides the defendant with good cause for an examination to determine the existence and extent of such asserted injury.” Id. at 119, 85 S.Ct. 234.

The defendant in this case has posited that Schlagenhauf stands for the proposition that the pleadings alone are sufficient to meet Rule 35 requirements. (Defendant’s Reply in Support of Their Motion at 3). The language quoted immediately above refutes this broad reading of Schlagenhauf. The Court merely acknowledged that there are situations in which allegations in the pleadings may squarely place the mental or physical condition of one of the parties “in controversy” such as where a plaintiff asserts mental or physical injury in a negligence action.

Plaintiffs attempt to distinguish a Northern District of Illinois case quoted by defendant that granted the motion to compel a Rule 35 examination is equally unpersuasive. (Plaintiff’s Response at 4). Defendant correctly points out that the opinion in Jansen v. Packaging Corporation of America, 158 F.R.D. 409 (N.D.Ill.1994), makes no mention of whether the plaintiffs plan to present expert medical testimony regarding her mental state was a factor in granting the Rule 35 motion. (Defendant’s Reply in Support of Their Motion at 4). However, there is a further and more important reason why Jansen is not controlling in this case. While Jansen does appear to say that the “in con[275]*275troversy” requirement of Rule 35 was met based solely on allegations in the pleadings, that opinion contains virtually no analysis of the more specific questions presented here. Jansen, 158 F.R.D. at 410. In Jansen,

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Bluebook (online)
199 F.R.D. 272, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3828, 2001 WL 184805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nolan-v-international-brotherhood-of-teamsters-health-welfare-pension-ilnd-2001.