Shumway v. Wright

District Court, D. Utah·Decided August 26, 2019·No. 4:19-cv-00058·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH

TRAVIS LYNN SHUMWAY, an individual EX PARTE SEIZURE ORDER AND residing in the state of Utah; CHAD L. EVIDENCE PRESERVATION ORDER SHUMWAY, an individual residing in the state of Utah; MOUNTAIN WEST MEDICAL SUPPLY, L.L.C., a Utah limited liability company; UNITED ENERGY WORKERS FILED UNDER SEAL HEALTHCARE, CORP., an Ohio corporation;

FOUR CORNERS HEALTH CARE CORP., a

Utah corporation; and FOUR CORNERS

HEALTHCARE INC., a Wyoming corporation;

Plaintiffs, Case No.: 4:19-cv-00058-DN-PK

v. District Judge David Nuffer

JAMES LINN WRIGHT, an individual; AUDRA WRIGHT, as individual; GARY D. SLAVENS, as individual; JANE AND JOHN DOES 1-10; and DOE BUSINESS ENTITIES 1-10;

Defendants.

This Ex Parte Seizure Order and Evidence Preservation Order (“Order”) is entered against Defendants James Linn Wright, Audra Wright and Gary D. Slavens. The Order is entered pursuant to the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) 18 U.S.C. § 1836. The Order is issued after consideration of the Application for Ex Parte Seizure and Preservation Orders and Supporting Memorandum (“Application”)1 filed by Plaintiffs Travis Lynn Shumway, Chad L. Shumway, United Energy Workers Healthcare, Corp., Four Corners Health Care Corp. and Four Corners Healthcare, Inc. (collectively “Plaintiffs”); the accompanying Joint Declaration of Travis

1 Docket no. 4, filed under seal August 5, 2019. Lynn Shumway and Chad L. Shumway2 and the Exhibits thereto; a three-page listing of Entity Principals;3 an ex parte hearing held August 9, 2019;4 the Supplemental Memorandum supporting the Application;5 the Declaration of J. Gregory Hardman;6 the Joint Declaration of Michael Gutierrez and Trevor Haight and the Exhibits thereto;7 and an exchange of draft orders8 and emails.9

This Order GRANTS IN PART Plaintiffs’ Application.10 Additionally, under the inherent authority of this court and the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, third parties Microsoft Corporation and Google LLC ARE HEREBY ORDERED to copy and preserve, during the pendency of this action or until further order of this court, all digital files and data respectively within the Microsoft (including Hotmail) accounts of James Linn Wright and Google (Gmail) account(s) of Gary D. Slavens. Background Plaintiffs originally asked for (1) seizure of all Defendants’ computer devices to the extent necessary for imaging, and without maintaining possession of any computer devices apart

from copied files; for (2) pre-hearing on-site deletion from Defendants’ devices of computer files

2 Docket no. 5, filed under seal August 5, 2019. 3 Docket no. 14, lodged August 20, 2019. 4 Minute entry, docket no. 13, August 9, 2019. 5 Docket no. 23, filed under seal August 23, 2019. 6 Docket no. 25, filed under seal August 23, 2019. 7 Docket no. 30, filed under seal August 23, 2019. 8 [Draft] Ex Parte Seizure Order and Evidence Preservation Order, attachment no. 4 to Application, docket no. 4, filed under seal August 5, 2019; Ex Parte Seizure Order draft 080819, docket no. 20, lodged August 20, 2019 (sent with August 8, 2019 email to counsel, docket no. 19, lodged August 20, 2019); [Draft] Ex Parte Seizure Order 08.17.2019 (FINAL), docket no. 17, lodged August 20, 2019 (sent with August 17, 2019 email to court, docket no. 16, lodged August 20, 2019); [Draft] 4 Ex Parte Seizure Order 082219 B, docket no. 28, lodged August 23, 2019 (sent with August 22, 2019 email to counsel, docket no. 26). 9 August 22, 2019 emails to and from counsel, docket no. 27, lodged August 23, 2019; August 23, 2019 email from counsel, docket no. __, lodged ____ (not yet lodged). 10 Docket no. 4, filed under seal August 5, 2019. containing trade secrets; and for 3) confiscation of a broad range of papers in relatively specific locations.11 The second request carries too great a risk of violating the mandate of 18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(2)(B)(ii) that an ex parte seizure order must: provide for the narrowest seizure of property necessary to achieve the purpose of this paragraph and direct that the seizure be conducted in a manner that minimizes any interruption of the business operations of third parties and, to the extent possible, does not interrupt the legitimate business operations of the person accused of misappropriating the trade secret . . . . While the DTSA refers in two places to the possible seizure of “unrelated materials,”12 the foregoing provision requires an order to be as narrow as possible. After being presented with a revised order the court had prepared,13 and a hearing,14 Plaintiffs submitted supplemental materials and another draft order, with increased breadth, seeking seizure of many computer devices for imaging and delivery to the court, and seizure of a slightly broader range of papers from much less specifically defined locations.15 Plaintiffs have not delineated the nature or extent of any legitimate business of Defendants, nor have they specified the other legitimate uses of Defendants’ computers and media. While Plaintiffs’ submissions are very thorough, they do not disclose Defendants’ legitimate operations, legitimate uses of the computers at issue; and legitimate papers and purposes of entities they control. The submissions also do not quantify the dollar amount of business lost to date by Defendants’ possession of Plaintiffs’ trade secrets, or the dollar volume of Plaintiffs’ overall business. This missing information makes assessment of risk difficult. And

11 Section A.2, [Draft] Ex Parte Seizure Order and Evidence Preservation Order, attachment no. 4 to Application, docket no. 4, filed under seal August 5, 2019. 12 18 U.S.C. § 1836 (b)(2)(D)(iii) and (iv). 13 Ex Parte Seizure Order draft 080819, docket no. 20, lodged August 20, 2019. 14 Minute entry, docket no. 13, August 9, 2019. 15 Section A.2, [Draft] Ex Parte Seizure Order 08.17.2019 (FINAL), docket no. 17, lodged August 20, 2019. risk of confusion is presented due to the similarity of names of entities controlled by Plaintiffs and Defendants. Nevertheless, given the lengthy history of prior dealings and litigation between Plaintiffs and Defendants, including specific adjudications involving some of these entities, as well as the transfer of Mr. Wright’s interest in others,16 the risk of interfering with the legitimate operation of the businesses run by Defendants (at least those at issue here)17 appears to be very

slight. Nonetheless, significant effort has been made to minimize even that risk. The order drafts, hearing comments, and materials submitted have been carefully considered. This Order is narrower than the most recent draft from Plaintiffs and allows seizure of the specific computers identified as used by Linn Wright and Gary Slavens, and identifiable customer lists, while authorizing imaging of other computers and storage. A challenge is presented because electronic data may easily be copied and may be stored in many devices and places. Backups and cloud storage make an effective “seizure” difficult to achieve. Plaintiffs have indicated they will move, after seizure, for injunctive relief, which will provide additional protections.18 The hearing set in seven days19 will afford an opportunity for

examination of the Defendants, their computers, and papers, at which time a motion for additional protections may be considered.

16 Section A.1., infra. 17 Exhibit B, infra. 18 Application at 3, fn. 1. 19 Section A.5., infra. A.

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Related

Civil proceedings
18 U.S.C. § 1836
§ 1846
18 U.S.C. § 1846(B)(v)
Federal question
28 U.S.C. § 1331
§ 139l
28 U.S.C. § 139l(b)
Writs
28 U.S.C. § 1651