Stark-Romero v. National Railroad Passenger Co.

276 F.R.D. 531, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95409, 2011 WL 3702441
District Court, D. New Mexico·Decided August 18, 2011·No. No. CIV 10-0778 JB/RLP·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES 0. BROWNING, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Plaintiffs-Intervenors’ Motion to Compel the National Railroad Passenger Company a/k/a Amtrak and BNSF Railway Company to Fully Respond to Discovery, filed June 23, 2011 (Doc. 98). The Court held a hearing on July 14, 2011. The primary issue is whether the Court should compel Defendants The National Railroad Passenger Company (Amtrak) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) to fully and completely respond to the admissions, interrogatories, and requests for production that Plaintiffs-Intervenors Emilio J. Esquibel and Helen G. Esquibel served upon them. The Court will grant in part and deny in part the Esquibels’ motion. The Court will not order Amtrak and BNSF Railway to produce the documents listed as Nos. 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 46, 59, and 61 in their privilege log. Amtrak must produce the medical and personnel records for the crew members who operated the train involved in the accident at issue, and the medical records of Phil Nerkowski, an Amtrak employee. BNSF Railway must produce the Car Geometry Video. Amtrak and BNSF Railway have agreed to produce the documents they withheld under 23 U.S.C. § 409. Insofar as the opinions of the Esquibels’ experts are premised on evidence that is inadmissible under 23 U.S.C. § 409, however, the Court will exclude the opinions.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 12, 2009, Plaintiff Victoria Stark-Romero filed a Complaint for Wrongful Death and Negligence against Amtrak, BNSF Railway, the City of Las Vegas, San Miguel County, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and Ride to Pride at the Barn, LLC, in the Fourth Judicial District Court in San Miguel County, New Mexico. See Stark-Romero v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Co., No. CIV 09-0295 MV/RLP, Complaint for Wrongful Death and Negligence, filed March 26, 2009 (Doc. 1-1). On March 26, 2009, the Defendants in that action removed Starkr-Romero v. National Railroad Passenger Co. to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. See Stark-Romero v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Co., No. CIV 09-0295 MV/RLP, Notice of Removal, filed March 26, 2009 (Doc. 1) (“First Notice of Removal”). Stark-Romero filed a Motion to Remand on April 20, 2009, alleging that [533]*533the First Notice of Removal was procedurally defective, because it did not establish that all Defendants served at the time of removal consented to the removal, given that San Miguel County did not sign the notice of removal or file an independent consent to removal. See Stark-Romero v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Co., No. 09-cv-0295-MV-RLP, Motion to Remand and Memorandum in Support Thereof at 4-5, filed April 20, 2009 (Doc. 14) (“Stark-Romero’s Motion to Remand”). On March 31, 2010, the Honorable Martha Vázquez, then-Chief Judge,1 issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order, granting Stark-Romero’s Motion to Remand. See Stark-Romero v. Nat’l R.R. Passenger Co., No. CIV 09-0295 MV/RLP, Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting Motion to Remand, filed March 31, 2010 (Doc. 96) (“Mar. 31, 2010 MOO”).

On July 19, 2010, E. Esquibel and H. Esquibel filed their Complaint in Intervention for Wrongful Death and Negligence in the Fourth Judicial District, County of San Miguel, in which they intervened in the action Stark-Romero filed. See Complaint in Intervention for Wrongful Death and Negligence in the Fourth Judicial District, filed August 19, 2010 (Doc. 1-2). On August 19, 2010, BNSF Railway and Amtrak removed the action. See Doc. 1.

Stark-Romero and the Esquibels filed the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand and Memorandum in Support Thereof, filed September 9, 2010 (Doc. 19), and the Motion Requesting that this Matter be Returned to the Previously Assigned Judge, filed October 10, 2010 (Doc. 32), which requested the Court to transfer the matter to Judge Vázquez. On January 12, 2011, the Court filed a Memorandum Opinion and Order, remanding Stark-Romero’s claims, but denying the Esquibels’ request that the Court remand their claims. See Doc. 53. The Court also denied the Esquibels’ request to transfer the ease to Judge Vázquez.

On June 23, 2011, the Esquibels filed their Motion to Compel the National Railroad Passenger Company a/k/a Amtrak and BNSF Railway Company to Fully Respond to Discovery. See Doc. 98. In their motion, the Esquibels argue that the Court should overrule Amtrak and BNSF Railway Co.’s objections, and compel them to provide full and complete answers and responses to the Esquibels’ discovery. They argue that Amtrak and BNSF Railway have failed to establish the elements of the privilege they assert under 23 U.S.C. § 409 and 49 U.S.C. § 20903. They also argue that Amtrak and BNSF Railway have failed to establish the work-product protection they assert. The Esquibels further argue that Amtrak should produce the personnel files for Amtrak employees Andrew Bullerwell, Nerkowski, Walter Pomrenke, M. Abeman, and Michael Waldron. The Esquibels also contend that Amtrak should produce the Car Geometry Video2 for the Southwest Division of BNSF Railway for five miles in either direction of railroad crossing USDOT013655C from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009, including trains heading north and south.

On July 11, 2011, Amtrak and BNSF Railway filed their Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Defendants Amtrak and BNSF to Fully Respond to Discovery. See Doc. 123. Amtrak and BNSF Railway argue that the parties’ remaining disputes may be boiled down into two subjects — those items prepared in anticipation of litigation and thus immune from disclosure in litigation under the work-produce doctrine, and those created for the purpose of complying with railroad accident/incident reporting and thus immune from disclose in litigation under federal law. They argue that, after the incident which is the subject of this lawsuit, their counsel at Modrall Sperling Law Firm requested that an investigation be conducted in anticipation of litigation, Amtrak and BNSF Railway prepared the materials and things at counsel’s direction. They argue that, because the elements of the work-product doctrine have been satisfied, the materials and things identified in their privilege log that the parties [534]*534agree are in dispute are protected from disclosure under the work-product doctrine. They argue that the Esquibels have had free access to the facts surrounding the accident and that there is nothing to suggest that the Defendants’ claim files contain information that the Esquibels have been unable to obtain from other sources. They also argue that items in their privilege log are protected from disclosure under 49 U.S.C. § 20903 and 23 U.S.C. § 409. They assert that Amtrak has already agreed to produce the personnel files for the crew who were operating the train shortly before and at the time of the incident.

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Stark-Romero v. National Railroad Passenger Co., 276 F.R.D. 531, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95409, 2011 WL 3702441 (D.N.M. 2011).

276 F.R.D. 531 (Stark-Romero v. National Railroad Passenger Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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