Sullivan v. Schlumberger Limited

District Court, E.D. Texas·Decided July 29, 2021·No. 4:20-cv-00662·Unknown

Opinion

United States District Court EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION

DEMARCUS SULLIVAN, § § Plaintiff, § v. § § CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:20-CV-00662 § Judge Mazzant SCHLUMBERGER LIMITED, § § SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY § CORPORATION, and ELWOOD § STAFFING SERVICES, INC., § Defendants. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Written Discovery (Dkt. #50). Having considered the motion and the relevant pleadings, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s motion should be granted in part and denied in part. BACKGROUND This case arises out of an employer-employee relationship whereby DeMarcus Sullivan (“Sullivan”) alleges claims of disparate treatment, interference, and a hostile work environment under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. To better understand the nature of the claims, the Court will briefly outline the pertinent facts. Elwood Staffing Services, Inc. (“Elwood”) is a temporary staffing agency. In October of 2017, Elwood assigned Sullivan to work temporarily as a materials handler at Schlumberger Technology Corporation’s (“STC”) maintenance facility in Denton, Texas. Throughout Sullivan’s assignment at STC, he remained an employee of Elwood. Sullivan worked at STC for approximately ten months. During those months, Sullivan claims he was subject to racial harassment and discrimination by STC employees. Sullivan allegedly reported the harassment and discrimination to both Schlumberger’s Human Resources Department and his supervisors, but he never received a report of an investigation by the department. In September of 2018, STC informed Elwood that it had released Sullivan from the

job assignment due to issues with Sullivan’s job performance. According to Sullivan, STC released him because he reported concerns about racial discrimination. On July 9, 2021, Sullivan filed the present motion (Dkt. #50). On July 20, 2021, Elwood filed a response (Dkt. #66). Also on July 20, 2021, Schlumberger Limited and STC (collectively, “Schlumberger”) filed a response (Dkt. #67). On July 26, 2021, Sullivan filed a reply (Dkt. #76). LEGAL STANDARD Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1), parties “may obtain discovery regarding any non[-]privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense . . . .” FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). “Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be

discoverable.” FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). The Court’s scheduling order requires that the parties produce, as part of their initial disclosure, “documents containing, information ‘relevant to the claim or defense of any party.’” (Dkt. #21 at p. 4). Moreover, the Local Rules of the Eastern District of Texas provide further guidance suggesting that information is “relevant to any party’s claim or defense [if]: (1) it includes information that would not support the disclosing parties’ contentions; . . . (4) it is information that deserves to be considered in the preparation, evaluation or trial of a claim or defense. . . .” LOCAL RULE CV-26(d). It is well established that “control of discovery is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Freeman v. United States, 556 F.3d 326, 341 (5th Cir. 2009) (quoting Williamson v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 815 F.2d 368, 382 (5th Cir. 1987)). Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a discovering party, on notice to other parties and all affected persons, to “move for an order compelling disclosure or discovery.” FED. R. CIV. P. 37(a)(1). The moving party bears the burden of showing that the materials and

information sought are discoverable. Export Worldwide, Ltd. v. Knight, 241 F.R.D. 259, 263 (W.D. Tex. 2006). Once the moving party establishes that the materials requested are within the scope of permissible discovery, the burden shifts to the party resisting discovery to show why the discovery is irrelevant, overly broad, unduly burdensome or oppressive, and thus should not be permitted. Id. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 governs requests for production of documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things. Rule 34 requires responses to “either state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested or state with specificity the grounds for objecting to the request, including the reasons.” FED. R. CIV. P. 34(b)(2)(B). “An

objection [to the entire request] must state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that objection.” FED. R. CIV. P. 34(b)(2)(C). On the other hand, “[a]n objection to part of a request must specify the part and permit inspection of the rest.” FED. R. CIV. P. 34(b)(2)(C). After responding to each request with specificity, the responding attorney must sign their request, response, or objection certifying that the response is complete and correct to the best of the attorney’s knowledge and that any objection is consistent with the rules and warranted by existing law or a non-frivolous argument for changing the law. FED. R. CIV. P. 26(g). This rule “simply requires that the attorney make a reasonable inquiry into the factual basis of his response, request, or objection.” FED. R. CIV. P. 26(g) advisory committee note (1983). The federal rules follow a proportionality standard for discovery. FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). Under this requirement, the burden falls on both parties and the court to consider the proportionality of all discovery in resolving discovery disputes. FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1), advisory committee note (2015). This rule relies on the fact that each party has a unique understanding of the proportionality to bear on the particular issue. Id. For example, a party requesting discovery

may have little information about the burden or expense of responding. Id. “The party claiming undue burden or expense ordinarily has far better information—perhaps the only information— with respect to that part of the determination.” Id. ANALYSIS Sullivan outlines two categories of written discovery over which the parties have significant disagreement: interrogatories and requests for production. Regarding Sullivan’s interrogatories, Sullivan asks the Court to compel Schlumberger to: (1) identify the employees who worked at the Denton facility during Sullivan’s employment at the facility; and (2) provide Sullivan with STC’s net worth. Regarding Sullivan’s requests for production, Sullivan seeks: (1)

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