Weiland v. City of Concord et al

Filing 24

ORDER RE: DISCOVERY LETTER BRIEF 23 . Signed by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on August 7, 2014. (jsclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/7/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WALTHER WEILAND,

Case No. 13-cv-05570-JSC

Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF CONCORD, et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER RE: DISCOVERY LETTER
BRIEF
Re: Dkt. No. 23

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Plaintiff Walther Weiland alleges that Defendants violated his civil rights during an

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incident wherein he was arrested by an off-duty police officer for Defendant City of Concord

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following a traffic accident. Now pending before the Court is Defendants’ request to compel

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production of Plaintiff’s unredacted medical records for the five years preceding the incident

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through the present. After carefully considering the arguments and briefing submitted, the Court

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concludes that oral argument is unnecessary, see Civ. L.R. 7-1(b), and GRANTS the motion in

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part. Balancing Plaintiff’s privacy rights against the relevance of this evidence to Plaintiff’s

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damages claims, the Court orders Plaintiff to produce unredacted medical (not mental health)

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records from 2008 to the present.

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BACKGROUND
On February 17, 2013, Plaintiff Walther Weiland was involved in a traffic accident with

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Defendant Kevin Mansourian, an off-duty police officer for the City of Concord. The parties

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dispute who caused the accident, but it is undisputed that after the accident the parties pulled over

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to the side of the road. Plaintiff contends that Defendant Mansourian, who was not wearing a

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uniform, thereafter approached Plaintiff screaming profanities, identifying himself as a police

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officer, and stating that Plaintiff was under arrest. (Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 18.) When Plaintiff asked to see

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Defendant Mansourian’s badge, Plaintiff alleges that Mansourian violently assaulted Plaintiff

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slamming him to the ground face-first and placing Plaintiff in a control hold with his hands behind

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his back and Defendant Mansourian on top of him with his knee in Plaintiff’s back. (Id. ¶ 18-19.)

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Plaintiff asserts that he requested that Defendant Mansourian take his weight off him because he

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has a stent in his heart. (Id. ¶ 20.) Defendant contends that Plaintiff resisted arrest so he took

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Plaintiff to the ground and restrained him for about five minutes until the California Highway

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Patrol arrived. (Dkt. No. 14 ¶ 5.)

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Plaintiff alleges that he suffered severe physical injuries as a result of this incident,
including but not limited to a radial head fracture of his right arm, bruised ribs, cuts, and
lacerations. (Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 32.) He brings claims against Defendant Mansourian, the City of

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Concord, and City of Concord Chief of Police Guy Swanger for violation of his civil rights under

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state and federal law, as well as various state law claims. Plaintiff seeks compensatory and

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punitive damages.

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Although formal discovery has not yet begun, as part of Plaintiff’s initial disclosures he

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produced redacted versions of his Kaiser medical records from February 17, 2013 to the present.

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Defendants seek unredacted versions of his medical records from 2008 through the present.

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DISCUSSION

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Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes discovery “regarding any

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matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of any party.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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26(b)(1). A party who resists discovery has the burden of demonstrating that it should not be

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allowed. Oakes v. Halvorseen Marine Ltd., 179 F.R.D. 281, 283 (C.D. Cal. 1998) (citation

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omitted). As reflected by the language of Rule 26, a party may fulfill this burden by making a

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proper assertion of privilege. See Oakes, 179 F.R.D. at 284 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5); Walt

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Disney Co. v. DeFabiis, 168 F.R.D. 281, 283 (C.D. Cal. 1996)).

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Defendants seek Plaintiff’s complete Kaiser medical records and bills from February 17,

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2008 through the present. Plaintiff agrees that some of his medical records are relevant here, but

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objects to producing his complete medical records on privacy and relevance grounds. Plaintiff

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agrees that medical records relating to his right arm, right shoulder, hearing aid, and the existence
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of his heart stent are relevant. Thus, on July 28, 2014, Plaintiff produced redacted medical records

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from February 17, 2008 to the present that relate to Plaintiff’s right arm, right shoulder, hearing

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air, ribs and cuts, lacerations and/or bruises. Defendants object to Plaintiff’s redactions and seek

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all of Plaintiff’s medical and mental health records from February 2008 to the present.

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A party enjoys privacy rights in his medical records generally. See Bertram v. Sizelove,

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2012 WL 273083, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 30, 2012). A party may nonetheless waive these privacy

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rights by putting the contents at issue in a case. Smith v. Solano Cnty., 2012 WL 3727332, at *1

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(E.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2012); Bertram, 2012 WL 273083, at *3. Any waiver, however, is “limited to

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the private information that is relevant to the lawsuit.” Enwere v. Terman Associates, L.P., 2008

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WL 5146617, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 4, 2008) (citation omitted).

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Plaintiff seeks compensation for physical and emotional damages that he allegedly suffered

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because of Defendants’ actions. By bringing this lawsuit, Plaintiff has placed at issue the extent of

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his injuries and therefore waived his privacy rights as to his medical records. Defendants are

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entitled to reasonable discovery that will shed light on the nature of Plaintiff’s alleged injuries and

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on the sources that proximately gave rise to those injuries. And, as Defendants argue, some of

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those records may also be relevant to what happened that day and why. The problem with

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Plaintiff’s position is that it leaves it entirely up to Plaintiff to decide what records are or are not

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relevant. Defendants’ expert may have a different view from Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s expert as to

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what is relevant. Defendants will be deprived of the opportunity to develop such evidence if

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Plaintiff’s view of what is relevant automatically prevails.

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The protective order properly balances Plaintiff’s privacy interests with Defendants’ right

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to potentially relevant discovery. While there may be some medical records that are clearly not

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relevant (such as OB Gyn records in some cases), Plaintiff has not identified any such records

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here. Accordingly, subject to the protective order, Plaintiff must produce unredacted versions of

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his medical records as requested.

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Defendants, however, have not demonstrated that they are entitled to discovery of

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Plaintiff’s mental health records given that he only seeks garden variety emotional distress

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damages. See Valiavacharska v. Celaya, No. 10-4847, 2011 WL 4479341, at *3-4 (N.D. Cal.
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Sept. 26, 2011) (granting a motion to quash where plaintiff only sought garden variety emotional

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distress).
CONCLUSION

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For the reasons explained above, Defendants’ motion to compel is granted in part.
Plaintiff shall produce unredacted medical records from 2008 through the present.

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To the extent that future discovery disputes arise, the parties are reminded that under the

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Court’s Standing Order discovery letter briefs are to be no more than 8 pages and the letter brief

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and all attachments thereto shall be e-filed under the Civil Events category of “Motions and

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Related Filings > Motions – General > Discovery Letter Brief.”
This Order disposes of Docket No. 23.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: August 7, 2014
______________________________________
JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY
United States Magistrate Judge

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