Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No. 630 Pension-Annuity Trust Fund v. Arbitron, Inc.

278 F.R.D. 335, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131091, 2011 WL 5519840
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 14, 2011
DocketNo. 08 Civ. 4063(PAE)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 278 F.R.D. 335 (Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No. 630 Pension-Annuity Trust Fund v. Arbitron, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No. 630 Pension-Annuity Trust Fund v. Arbitron, Inc., 278 F.R.D. 335, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131091, 2011 WL 5519840 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

Opinion

[337]*337 OPINION AND ORDER

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

This decision addresses a discovery dispute. Defendant Arbitron, Inc., moves for an order directing the lead plaintiff, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 630 Pension-Annuity Trust Fund (Plaintiff), to disclose the names of 11 former Arbitron employees whom the Complaint designates as “Confidential Informants” (CIs). Arbitron also seeks an order directing Plaintiff to produce all documents that these 11 CIs provided to Plaintiffs counsel.

For the reasons that follow, Arbitron’s motion to compel disclosure of the names of the CIs is granted, subject to the opportunity the Court will afford the Plaintiff to substantiate, as described herein, its claim that disclosure of a Cl’s name may result in retribution. Arbitron’s motion to compel production of all documents provided to the Plaintiff by the CIs is also granted, to the extent that such documents are responsive to other valid discovery requests in this case.

I. Background

The Second Amended Complaint (SAC) in this securities class action litigation was filed on October 19, 2009. It alleges that Arbitron and two officers, Stephen B. Morris and Sean R. Creamer, violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by making false and misleading statements about Arbitron’s planned rollout of a technology known as the “Portable People Meter” (PPM). In essence, the SAC alleges that, between July 19, 2007, and November 26, 2007, the defendants failed to disclose material information regarding various problems and delays adversely affecting the scheduled PPM rollout. The SAC further alleges that defendants made various statements tending to falsely portray the PPM technology as “on schedule” or “on track” for a December 31, 2007 rollout.

On September 30, 2010, this Court denied Arbitron’s motion to dismiss. See Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 680 Pension-Annuity Trust Fund v. Arbitron, Inc. et al., 741 F.Supp.2d 474 (S.D.N.Y.2010).1 Discovery, which had been stayed pursuant to the automatic stay provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, see 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b)(3)(B), commenced soon thereafter. Under the schedule in place, fact discovery is due to close February 28, 2012; expert discovery closes May 3, 2012. Document production is substantially complete. Depositions will commence shortly but have been deferred pending resolution of the instant dispute. A protective order negotiated by the parties is in place governing the handling of confidential discovery materials.

Arbitron presently seeks this Court’s intervention in connection with two closely related discovery disputes.

Identification of Confidential Informants: Arbitron asks the Court to enforce an interrogatory (Interrogatory No. 1) which directs Plaintiff to “specifically identify all Confidential Informants referenced in the Complaint by the Confidential Informant number in the Complaint, and include the person’s full name, present or last known address, and present or last known place of employment.”

Plaintiff has refused to identify these 11 persons. It has given two independent reasons. First, Plaintiff asserts that it has fully complied with any duties that Federal Rule [338]*338of Civil Procedure 26 imposes as to identification of the CIs. Plaintiff notes that — to comply with its required initial disclosures under Rule 26(a)(1)(A) — it has furnished the defense with a list of 83 current or former Arbitron officers or employees likely to have discoverable information. Plaintiff represents that this list contains the names of all 11 CIs (although they are not identified as such).

Second, Lead Plaintiff asserts that the attorney work product doctrine protects it from having to reveal the CIs’ identities. As to the latter, Plaintiff argues that, were it to disclose the CIs’ identities,

Arbitron would be able to discern which witnesses counsel for Lead Plaintiff considers important, thereby revealing counsel for Lead Plaintiffs mental impressions, opinions, and/or legal theories regarding information provided by these CIs. Specifically, disclosing this information is tantamount to revealing how counsel for Lead Plaintiff analyzed and used the information provided by the CIs, as well as the conclusions, opinions, and potentially even trial strategy developed during counsel for Lead Plaintiffs investigation.

Plaintiff also argues that the SAC’s descriptions of the CIs permit Arbitron to winnow out various people listed on its initial disclosure list. Thus, the task for Arbitron of identifying the CIs on its own steam is less substantial than initially might appear. Plaintiff finally states that “the CIs have legitimate concerns that they will suffer retaliation regarding their current or future employment in the industry if they are identified.”

Arbitron disputes both arguments. Particularly salient here, it disputes that the work product doctrine applies to the Cl’s identities. It asserts that even if any limited work product protection applies to those identities, that protection is overcome by defendants’ interest in efficiently discovering relevant information. As Arbitron put the point in its moving papers: “Arbitron should not be forced to depose as many as 83 persons to learn the identity of 11 CIs.”

Documents produced by the CIs: In the second discovery dispute, Arbitron asks this Court to enforce a document request, which, as narrowed by the parties, calls upon Plaintiff to produce all documents provided to it by the CIs. The parties have largely treated this dispute as derivative of the first.

On November 8, 2011, the Court held a lengthy, on-the-record, telephone conference with counsel to discuss these motions.

II. Discussion

a. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1)

Management of discovery lies within the broad discretion of the district court. See Baguer v. Spanish Broadcasting Systems, Inc., 423 Fed.Appx. 102, 103 (2d Cir.2011) (summary order); Allied Maritime, Inc. v. Descatrade 5A, 620 F.3d 70, 74 (2d Cir.2010); In re IPO Securities Litigation, 471 F.3d 24 (2d Cir.2006).

The threshold discovery issue here is whether, as Lead Plaintiff has argued, its disclosure duties under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 with regard to the CIs were satisfied by including their names in its initial disclosures, among a list of 83 Arbitron officers or employees. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(1)(A)® (requiring parties to identify the names and contact information of persons “likely to have discoverable information ... that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses”).

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278 F.R.D. 335, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131091, 2011 WL 5519840, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/plumbers-pipefitters-local-union-no-630-pension-annuity-trust-fund-v-nysd-2011.