Prokosch v. Catalina Lighting, Inc.

193 F.R.D. 633, 49 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 494, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9224, 2000 WL 837027
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMay 24, 2000
DocketNo. CIV. 98-2208 JMR/RLE
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 193 F.R.D. 633 (Prokosch v. Catalina Lighting, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Prokosch v. Catalina Lighting, Inc., 193 F.R.D. 633, 49 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 494, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9224, 2000 WL 837027 (mnd 2000).

Opinion

MINUTE ORDER

ERICKSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

This matter came before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to a general assignment, made in accordance with the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), upon the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel responses to several outstanding discovery requests, and for Sanctions.

A Hearing on the Motion was conducted on May 18, 2000, at which time, the Plaintiffs appeared by John Robert Keena, Esq., and the Defendant, YES International, Inc., a/k/a American Lighting Industry, Inc. (“American”), appeared by Jerome D. Feriancek, Esq.

For reasons which follow, the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel, and for Sanctions, is granted in part.

[635]*635II. Discussion

This lawsuit arises out of a fire which occurred, on March 11, 1997, at the home of the Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs allege that the fire was caused by a torchiere-style halogen lamp that was sold by the Defendants American, and Pamida, Inc. In our Order of April 3, 2000, American was directed to fully and completely respond to all discovery requests, including those that were out-standing, by April 17, 2000. See, Order dated April 3, 2000 [Docket No. 53]. However, as urged by the Plaintiffs, notwithstanding this directive, American’s discovery responses have been largely nonresponsive, evasive, and misleading. The Plaintiffs also contend that, in response to a noticed Rule 30(b)(6) deposition, American failed to produce a deponent with relevant knowledge as to subjects that were known to, or reasonably available, to American’s corporate organization. In response to these accusations, American’s counsel represents that his client has informed him that it has produced all relevant discovery materials that are within its possession.

Of course, the threshold requirement of discoverability is whether the information sought is “relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action.” Shelton v. American Motors, 805 F.2d 1323, 1326 (8th Cir.1986). Of course, to be discoverable, the information “need not be admissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Rule 26(b)(1), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The standard, therefore, is widely recognized as one that is necessarily broad in its scope, in order to allow the parties essentially equal access to the operative facts. See, Hofer v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 981 F.2d 377, 382 (8th Cir. 1992); Leighr v. Beverly Enterprises-Kansas, Inc., 164 F.R.D. 550 (D.Kan.1996); Cox v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., 38 F.R.D. 396, 398 (D.S.C.1965). Notwithstanding the liberality of discovery, however, it is not without bounds. As our Court of Appeals has observed:

[Tjhis often intoned legal tenet should not be misapplied so as to allow fishing expeditions in discovery. Some threshold showing of relévance must be made before parties are required to open wide the doors of discovery and to produce a variety of information which does not reasonably bear upon the issues in the ease.

Hofer v. Mack Trucks, supra at 380.

Therefore, despite the liberality of discpvery, “we will remain reluctant to allow any party to ‘roam in the shadow zones of relevancy and -to explore matter which does not presently appear germane on the theory that it might conceivably become so.’ ” Onwuka v. Federal Express Corp., 178 F.R.D. 508, 516 (D.Minn.1997); Carlson Cos., Inc. v. Sperry & Hutchinson Co., 374 F.Supp. 1080, 1089 (D.Minn.1973); see also, Blum v. Schlegel, 150 F.R.D. 38, 39 (W.D.N.Y.1993).

Here, American does not challenge the propriety of the discovery requests that have been propounded by the Plaintiffs. Rather, American contends that it has produced all of the documentation that is responsive to these requests, which is within its possession. In response, the Plaintiffs question the veracity of any such representation. According to the Plaintiffs, during discovery, they served a variety of discovery requests upon American, which sought to establish whether American was a manufacturer, or a designer, of halogen lamps. In addition, the Plaintiffs sought to discover information concerning the corporate structure of American.

As related by the Plaintiffs, in response to these requests, American has either offered false information, or no information at all. For example, American has offered the Affidavit of Mr. Huy Ly (“Ly”), which avers that American is not a manufacturer of lamps, and that, in fact, it purchases lamps from two distributors, Semilla Industrial Co., and Kingdom Lighting Industry Co. See, Affidavit of J. Robert Keena, Ex. A. However, the Plaintiffs claim that they have discovered a patent pending on safety features for lamps, that is attributable to an American consultant, Mr. John Yey (‘Yey”). See, Id., Ex. B. In addition, during a deposition, Bernard Koay, the President of American, admitted that American purchased lamps from a third manufacturer, known as Bright Lamps. See, Keena Aff., Ex. C., at 36. However, despite these revelations, American has not produced requested documents regarding Semilla In[636]*636dustrial Co., Kingdom Lighting Industry Co., or Bright Lamps, and has not produced the documents indicating its involvement in lamp design. Moreover, American has not responded to the Plaintiffs’ discovery requests which seek information concerning American’s corporate structure.

As an initial matter, we note that Rule 34(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, states that “[a]ny party may serve on any other party a request (1) to produce * * * any designated documents * * * or to inspect and copy, test, or sample any tangible things * * * which are in the possession, custody or control of the party upon whom the request is served.” Rule 34(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Moreover, “federal courts have consistently held that documents are deemed to be within the ‘possession, custody .or control’ for purposes of Rule 34 if the party has actual possession, custody or control, or has the legal right to obtain the documents on demand.” In re Bankers Trust Co., 61 F.3d 465, 469 (6th Cir.1995), citing Resolution Trust Corp. v. Deloitte & Touche, 145 F.R.D. 108, 110 (D.Colo.1992); Weck v. Cross, 88 F.R.D. 325, 327 (N.D.Ill. 1980).

Specifically, control is defined as “the legal right, authority, or ability to obtain upon demand documents in the possession of another.” Florentia Cont. Corp. v. RTC, No. 92 Civ. 1188, 1993 WL 127187 at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 22, 1993). In practice,- however, other courts “have sometimes interpreted Rule 34 to require production if the party has practical ability to obtain the documents from another, irrespective of his legal entitlement to the documents.” U.S. v. Skeddle, 176 F.R.D. 258, 261 n.

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193 F.R.D. 633, 49 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 494, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9224, 2000 WL 837027, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prokosch-v-catalina-lighting-inc-mnd-2000.