Weddington v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

101 F.R.D. 71, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedFebruary 17, 1984
DocketNo. S 83-250
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 101 F.R.D. 71 (Weddington v. Consolidated Rail Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weddington v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 101 F.R.D. 71, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347 (N.D. Ind. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

This cause is presently before the court on the motion to compel discovery of the plaintiff, M. Lucy Weddington. Plaintiff seeks a court order compelling defendant, Consolidated Rail Corporation, to answer Interrogatories numbers 9, 14, 18, 23, 36-38, 40-45, 48, 49, 54-56, 59-66 and to produce the files requested by plaintiff in her Request for Production of Documents Number 20.

This cause of action commenced in this court via a removal petition filed June 1, 1983. On June 6, 1983, this court entered an order directing the removal of this case from the Elkhart Circuit Court. Thereafter on September 23,1983 at 3:30 P.M., John D. Ulmer, counsel for plaintiff, and Harold Abrahamson, counsel for defendant, met pursuant to Local Rule 7(e) regarding the discovery dispute and, after a personal meeting and consultation, were unable to reach an accord. Subsequently, plaintiff filed her motion to compel discovery on December 12, 1983. Defendant’s reply was docketed January 11, 1984.

The scope of discovery in federal actions is governed by Rule 26 of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which states in part:

(b) Scope of Discovery. Unless otherwise limited by order of the Court in accordance with these rules, the scope of discovery is as follows:
(1) In General. Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the parties seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things in the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

Rules 26 through 37 of the Federal Rules have been interpreted liberally to allow maximum discovery. If requested materials lead to discovery of admissible evidence, the discovery request is relevant. Alliance to End Repression v. Rockford, 75 F.R.D. 441, 444 (N.D.Ill.1977). Therefore, discovery requests should be complied with if there is a reasonable possibility that [74]*74information sought may be relevant to the subject matter of the action. Sherman Park Community Association v. Wauwatosa Realty, 486 F.Supp. 838, 845 (E.D.Wis.1980).

With the definition of relevance as framed in the above cited cases kept firmly in mind, this court will now attempt to sort through the numerous objections presented and address the objections to each interrogatory in numerical order. Plaintiff, in Interrogatory number 9, requests the cost of installing and maintaining flashers and automatic gates at the Kercher Road crossing. Defendant objects on the grounds of relevancy. The objection is overruled since the economic feasibility of installing automatic gates is relevant to the issue of whether reasonable care was exercised in the use of warning devices at the Kercher crossing.

In Interrogatories numbers 14 and 23, plaintiff seeks to discover the average number of trains that traversed the Kercher crossing during a given period in 1982 and the width of the right-of-way at the crossing on December 17, 1983. In response to each interrogatory, the defendant replied that investigation continues. The court deems these appropriate responses and orders no supplementation until such time as defendant acquires the information.-

Plaintiff request the speed of the train at impact and at specific points prior to impact in Interrogatory number 18. Defendants responded that the information could be ascertained through crew members. This is an inappropriate response since there is a duty on the part of corporate entity to discover all information available to it through its officers, employees and others. Under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, answers to interrogatories addressed to a corporation or other judicial person must speak of the composite knowledge of the party, (emphasis added). General Dynamics Corp. v. Selb Manufacturing Co., 481 F.2d 1204, 1210 (8th Cir.1973); Trane Company v. Klutznick, 87 F.R.D. 473, 476 (W.D.Wis. 1980); Bollard v. Volkswagen of America, Inc., 56 F.R.D. 569, 582 (W.D.Mo.1971). Defendant is therefore ordered to respond in full to this request.

Interrogatories numbers 36, 37, and 38 ask the defendant to list and identify any studies performed by the defendant, or by other entities but known to the defendant, pertaining to (1) the Kercher Road crossing — its existing protection or the possibility of upgrading its protection — prior to or after the subject collision; (2) the relative effectiveness of various types of crossing warning devices, including automatic gates and the roles they play in preventing collision injuries and fatalities.

In response to Interrogatory number 36, defendant stated that it had no knowledge of such studies done prior to the accident but objects, on the grounds of relevancy, to any studies done subsequent to the accident. Information as to subsequent repairs is relevant to show the feasibility of precautionary measures. See generally Ramos v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 615 F.2d 334, 341 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, sub nom. Rucker Co. v. Shell Oil Co. et al., 449 U.S. 1112, 101 S.Ct. 921, 66 L.Ed.2d 840 (1981). Similarly, studies done by the defendant, or by other entities but known to the defendant, prior to the collision may be relevant to defendant’s notice of the existence of and/or magnitude of danger at the Kercher crossing. Ramos, supra, 615 F.2d at 338-39. Accordingly defendant is ordered to supplement Interrogatory number 36 and to answer Interrogatory number 37.

Although Interrogatory number 38 is slightly different from the preceding two in that it deals with studies on the relative effectiveness of various types of warning devices and the role they play in preventing injuries and fatalities, the information is, nonetheless, relevant to defendant’s knowledge of more adequate safety and warning devices. Defendant is, likewise, ordered to respond to Interrogatory number 38.

In Interrogatories numbers 40 and 41, plaintiff asks for the number of public [75]*75crossings in this state, the number of crossings protected by automatic gates and the number of automatic gates installed by the defendant during the last five (5) years. Defendant refuses to answer on the grounds that such statistical information is irrelevant and this court agrees with those objections. Defendant’s objections to these interrogatories are sustained.

Interrogatory number 42 deals with the total amount of money spent by the defendant for crossing and/or warning improvements each year for the last five (5) years.

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Bluebook (online)
101 F.R.D. 71, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19347, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weddington-v-consolidated-rail-corp-innd-1984.