Johnson et al v. City of Redding et al

Filing 29

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 10/12/2020 GRANTING 27 Motion to Compel and ORDERING Defendants to produce responsive discovery within 21 days. Defendants' production shall be subject to 18 Stipulated Protective Order. (Huang, H)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RANDALL SCOTT JOHNSON
DECEASED, etc., et al.,
Plaintiffs,

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No. 2:19-cv-1722 JAM DB

ORDER
v.
CITY OF REDDING, et al.,

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Defendants.

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On October 9, 2020, this matter came before the undersigned pursuant to Local Rule

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302(c)(1) for hearing of plaintiff’s motion to compel. (ECF No. 27.) Attorney Teresa Allen

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appeared via Zoom on behalf of plaintiffs and attorney Cameren Ripoli appeared via Zoom on

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behalf of defendants. Oral argument was heard and plaintiffs’ motion was taken under

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submission.

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This action concerns claims alleged pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and California law

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against the City of Redding, City of Redding Police officers, Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies,

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and Shasta County Jail staff stemming from decedent Randall Scott Johnson’s arrest on August

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14, 2018, and subsequent suicide on August 16, 2018, while incarcerated at the Shasta County

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Jail. (Compl. (ECF No. 1) at 9-26.) Plaintiffs seeks to compel responses to plaintiffs’ Request

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for Production Number 7 which seeks hiring and background investigation records for defendant
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Redding Police Officer Darren Hull and defendant Redding Police Officer Trevor Kuyper. (JS

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(ECF No. 27) at 8.)

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Specifically, plaintiffs have requested the “complete documentation of any investigation

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into each INVOLVED OFFICER’S background and fitness to be a law enforcement officer, if

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such officer was hired within the five years preceding the INCIDENT.” (Id.) Defendants have

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agreed to produce “relevant personnel records of the named individual defendant officers (HULL

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and KUYPER) after redaction” but refuse to produce “the background files of the officers”

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asserting that the information sought is not calculated to lead to the discovery of relevant

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information, and that the information is “privileged and confidential . . . under the U.S. and

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California constitutions,” and “per California statutes[.]” (Id.)
Where, as here, the complaint asserts “federal question claims and pendent state law

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claims . . . the federal law of privilege applies.” Agster v. Maricopa County, 422 F.3d 836, 839

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(9th Cir. 2005); see also Brooks v. County of San Joaquin, 275 F.R.D. 528, 530 (E.D. Cal. 2011)

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(“Federal law applies to privilege based discovery disputes involving federal claims, even if allied

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with by pendent state law claims.”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 609 (N.D. Cal.

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1995) (“California statutory privileges would not apply in this case and that privileges would be

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determined under federal common law.”).

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“Federal Courts ordinarily recognize a constitutionally-based right of privacy that can be

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raised in response to discovery requests.” Soto, 162 F.R.D. at 616; see also Breed v. United

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States District Court for the Northern District of California, 542 F.2d 1114, 1116 (9th Cir. 1976)

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(balancing invasion of minor’s privacy rights against the court’s need for ward files); Johnson by

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Johnson v. Thompson, 971 F.2d 1487, 1497 (10th Cir. 1992), cert. den., 507 U.S. 910 (1993)

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(denying discovery of names of participants in a medical study due to privacy interests of the

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individual participants). “Resolution of a privacy objection or request for protective order

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requires a balancing of the need for the particular information against the privacy right asserted.”

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Dowell v. Griffin, 275 F.R.D. 613, 617 (S.D. Cal. 2011).

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Here, as articulated by plaintiffs, the defendant officers’ background information that was
known to defendant City of Redding when it hired the officers is relevant to plaintiffs’ claims.
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(JS (ECF No. 27) at 9.) “Such information ‘may be relevant on the issues of credibility, notice to

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the employer, ratification by the employer and motive of the officers . . . as well as on the issue of

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punitive damages, in that the information may lead to evidence of a continuing course of conduct

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reflecting malicious intent.’” Soto, 162 F.R.D. at 614-15 (quoting Hampton v. City of San Diego,

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147 F.R.D. 227, 229 (S.D. Cal. 1993)); see also City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 392

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(1989) (City’s “deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of its inhabitants” can give rise

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to Monell claim); Edwards v. City of Vallejo, No. 2:18-cv-2434 MCE AC, 2019 WL 3564168, at

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*2 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2019) (“The court concludes that Bottomley’s hiring and background

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investigation records are relevant in this case. These records are particularly relevant to

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plaintiff’s claims against the City, as they could lead to discovery of information regarding the

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City’s pre-hire knowledge of Bottomley’s fitness to serve.”).

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Moreover, defendants have failed to articulate why the stipulated protective order

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governing this action fails to adequately address any privacy concerns. (ECF No. 18.) Or why a

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protective order specifically tailored to the discovery at issue could not address such concerns.

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Accordingly, plaintiffs’ motion to compel will be granted. See T.D.P. v. City of Oakland, Case

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No. 16-cv-4132 LB, 2017 WL 3026925, at *3 (N.D. Cal. July 17, 2017) (“Material concerning

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the ‘hiring’ or ‘appointment’ of the defendants must be produced.”); Kaur v. City of Lodi, No.

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2:14-cv-0828 GEB AC PS, 2015 WL 1240842, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 16, 2015) (“However, the

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court cannot categorically conclude that Bratton’s prior employment as a police officer is so

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remote or unrelated that it should be shielded from discovery in this case of alleged police

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misconduct.”); Duenez v. City of Manteca, No. 2:11-cv-1820 LKK AC, 2013 WL 684654, at *6

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(E.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2013) (ordering production of officer’s job application and job history).

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At the October 9, 2020 hearing counsel for defendants asked that the undersigned conduct

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a “record by record” analysis of the documents to be produced asserting that other courts have

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conducted such an analysis when ordering the production of these types of documents. Defense

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counsel, however, failed to articulate such an argument in the Joint Statement with any

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specificity. Instead, defendants simply identify the documents at issue as “pre-employment

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investigation materials[.]” (JS (ECF No. 27) at 14.) If defendants believed that certain
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documents should have been excluded from production based on the nature of those documents

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that argument should have been specifically addressed and supported in the Joint Statement. In

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this regard, in the absence of defendants engaging in a “record by record” analysis the

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undersigned is in no position to conduct such an analysis—particularly where there are “300+

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pages” of documents at issue. (Id. at 7.)

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Plaintiff’s September 15, 2020 motion to compel (ECF No. 27) is granted;

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2. Defendants shall produce responsive discovery within twenty-one days; and

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3. Defendants’ production shall be subject to the stipulated protective order entered in this

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action.

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Dated: October 12, 2020

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DLB:6
DB/orders/orders.civil/johnson0907.oah.1009

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