Umbenhower v. Copart, Inc.

222 F.R.D. 672, 59 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 663, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15212, 2004 WL 1763474
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJuly 16, 2004
DocketNo. CIV.A. 03-2476-JWL-DJW
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 222 F.R.D. 672 (Umbenhower v. Copart, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Umbenhower v. Copart, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 672, 59 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 663, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15212, 2004 WL 1763474 (D. Kan. 2004).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WAXSE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion in Limine and for Sanctions (doc. 29). Plaintiff seeks, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1), an order prohibiting Defendants from arguing or presenting evidence or testimony regarding (1) a written arbitration agreement between Plaintiff and Defendants, and (2) any oral, implied, or other form of agreement by Plaintiff to submit to arbitration any employment-related claims against Defendants. Plaintiff argues that she is entitled to such relief because Defendants failed to disclose in their initial Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures a purported written arbitration agreement between Plaintiff and Defendants and then later moved to compel arbitration based on such an agreement.

Plaintiff claims she has no recollection of signing any arbitration agreement. She asserts that it was not until Defendants filed their Motion to Compel Arbitration that she was put on notice of the purported arbitration agreement.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny Plaintiffs motion.

I. Factual Background

Defendants served their Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures on April 2, 2004. Defendants did not disclose any arbitration agreement nor did they disclose any individual likely to have [674]*674discoverable information about an arbitration agreement.

On April 20, 2004, Defendants filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration and to Stay Proceedings Pending Arbitration (doc. 21) (“Motion to Compel Arbitration”). They asserted in the Motion to Compel Arbitration that Plaintiff ■ had entered into a written agreement to arbitrate all aspects of her employment relationship with Defendants. They indicated that a copy of the signed arbitration agreement was attached to the Motion as Exhibit A.1 They also indicated that they were attaching as exhibits Defendants’ Employee Handbook and various non-published opinions.2 No exhibits, however, were actually attached to the Motion.

Plaintiff filed the instant Motion in Limine and for Sanctions on May 4, 2004. On that same date she also filed a brief in opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Compel Arbitration (doc. 28).

On May 10, 2004, Defendants filed an addendum (doc. 32) to the Motion to Compel Arbitration to which they attached the arbitration agreement and the other missing exhibits. Defendants state in the Addendum that they failed to attach the exhibits to their Motion “due to a technicality.”3 On May 13, 2004, Defendants served supplemental Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures (doe. 33). Those supplemental disclosures listed the arbitration agreement and identified an individual with knowledge of the contents of Plaintiffs personnel file, including the arbitration agreement.

On May 17, 2004, Defendants filed their opposition (doe. 35) to the instant Motion in Limine and for Sanctions. In their opposition, Defendants argue that their failure to disclose the arbitration agreement and failure to attach the exhibits to the Motion to Compel Arbitration were inadvertent and “minor procedural mistakes.”4 They further assert that once they were made aware of the mistakes, they immediately corrected them.

In addition, Defendants argue that Plaintiff has not been prejudiced by their failure to initially disclose the agreement or their failure to attach the exhibits to the Motion to Compel Arbitration. They also assert that Plaintiff has long been aware of the fact that they intended to rely on the defense that Plaintiffs claims are subject to arbitration. Defendants point out that they asserted the arbitration agreement as an affirmative defense in their Answer (doc. 10), which was filed on January 7, 2004. In a section of the Answer entitled “Affirmative and Additional Defenses,” Defendants state that “Plaintiffs claims are barred in whole or in party by the arbitration clause received and agreed to by Plaintiff requiring Plaintiff to arbitrate her claims.”5 Defendants also point out that the jointly prepared Report of Parties Planning Conference submitted to the Court on March 15, 2004, contained Defendants’ contention that “the entirety of the dispute is subject to mandatory arbitration.”6

II. Applicable Law

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1)(B), a party must disclose “a copy of, or a description by category and location of, all documents, data compilations, and tangible things that are in the possession, custody, or control of the party and that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, unless solely for impeachment.”7 Further, Rule 26(e)(1) requires a party to supplement or amend its disclosures and discovery responses if it learns the information disclosed or the response is somehow incomplete or incorrect.8 To ensure compli-[675]*675anee with these disclosure requirements, Rule 37(c)(1) provides that “[a] party that without substantial justification fails to disclose information required by Rule 26(a) or 26(e)(1) ... is not, unless such failure is harmless, permitted to use as evidence at a trial ... any witness or information not so disclosed.”9

The determination of whether a Rule 26(a) violation is “substantially justified” or “harmless” is entrusted to the broad discretion of the district court.10 A district court need not make explicit findings concerning the existence of a substantial justification or the harmlessness of a failure to disclose.11 Nevertheless, the Tenth Circuit has held that the following factors should guide the district court’s discretion: “(1) the prejudice or surprise to the party against whom the testimony is offered; (2) the ability of the party to cure the prejudice; (3) the extent to which introducing such testimony would disrupt the trial; and (4) the moving party’s bad faith or willfulness.”12

In applying Rule 37(c)(1), “the court must first determine whether substantial justification for failing to make the required disclosures exists.”13 If the party who failed to make the required disclosure fails to demonstrate substantial justification, then the court must determine whether the failure to disclose was harmless.14 The failure to disclose is considered harmless when there is “no prejudice to the party entitled to the disclosure.”15 The burden to establish harmlessness is on the party or parties who failed to make the required disclosure,16 which, in this case, is Defendants.

III. Analysis

Applying these standards to the case at bar, the Court finds Defendants have shown that their failure to initially disclose the arbitration agreement and the individual with knowledge of the agreement was not only substantially justified but also harmless. Nothing in the record indicates that Defendant’s failure to disclose was willful, knowing, or in bad faith.

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222 F.R.D. 672, 59 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 663, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15212, 2004 WL 1763474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/umbenhower-v-copart-inc-ksd-2004.