Harris v. Best Buy Stores, L.P.
Filing
123
ORDER by Judge Kandis A. Westmore regarding Parties' 120 9/20/16 Joint Discovery Letter Brief. (kawlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/14/2016)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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STARVONA HARRIS,
Case No. 3:15-cv-00657-HSG (KAW)
Plaintiff,
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ORDER REGARDING 9/20/16 JOINT
DISCOVERY LETTER
v.
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Re: Dkt. No. 120
BEST BUY STORES, L.P.,
Defendant.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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On September 20, 2016, the parties filed a joint letter in which Defendant seeks to compel
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responses to Requests for Production Nos. 23, 24, 25 and 29, which pertain to Plaintiff’s claim
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that she used her personal cell phone for work-related purposes and is entitled to reimbursement.
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(Joint Letter, Dkt. No. 120 at 1.)
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Upon review of the joint letters, the Court deems this matter suitable for disposition
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without oral argument pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-1(b), and orders the parties to further meet and
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confer regarding the production of the phone records, as set forth below.
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I.
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BACKGROUND
On February 11, 2015, Plaintiff Starvona Harris filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”)
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collective action and California class action lawsuit against her former employer Best Buy Stores,
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L.P. for violations of wage and hour laws. Plaintiff was employed by Best Buy from October
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2013 to September 2014. Plaintiff’s fifth cause of action alleges that she and other non-exempt
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employees used their personal cell phone plans, cell phones, and internet in the discharge of their
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duties and were not reimbursed as required by California Labor Code § 2802. (Second Am.
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Compl., “SAC,” Dkt. No. 59 ¶ 44.)
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On September 20, 2016, the parties filed a joint letter, in which Defendant seeks to compel
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Plaintiff’s responses to the requests that seek documents relating to the fifth cause of action.
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II.
LEGAL STANDARD
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure broadly interpret relevancy, such that each party has
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the right to the discovery of “any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or
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defense and proportional to the needs of the case[.]” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). “Relevant
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information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to
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lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Id. Under Rule 26, courts shall limit discovery if
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that which is sought is obtainable from some other source that is more convenient, less
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burdensome, or less expensive. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(C) (i).
The party seeking to compel discovery bears the burden of establishing that its request
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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satisfies the relevancy requirements of Rule 26(b)(1). See Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D.
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603, 610 (N.D.Cal. 1995). “In turn, the party opposing discovery has the burden of showing that
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discovery should not be allowed, and also has the burden of clarifying, explaining and supporting
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its objections with competent evidence.” Louisiana Pac. Corp. v. Money Mkt. 1 Institutional Inv.
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Dealer, 285 F.R.D. 481, 485 (N.D. Cal. 2012).
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Furthermore, “[t]he court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person
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from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense,” including by
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precluding discovery, by conditioning disclosure or discovery on specified terms, by preventing
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inquiry into certain matters, or by limiting the scope of discovery to certain matters. Fed. R. Civ.
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P. 26(c)(1). “Rule 26(c) confers broad discretion on the trial court to decide when a protective
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order is appropriate and what degree of protection is required.” Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart,
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467 U.S. 20, 36 (1984).
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III.
DISCUSSION
Requests for Production of Documents Nos. 23, 24, 25, and 29 seek documents pertaining
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to Plaintiff’s claim that she used her personal cell phone in the discharge of her duties as a Best
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Buy employee and is entitled to reimbursement. (Joint Letter at 1.) There is no dispute that her
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cell phone records are relevant to the fifth cause of action for violations of California Labor Code
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§ 2802, because “they presumably reflect whether she, in fact, made work-related calls, the
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number of such calls, the time spent on such calls, and any expenses incurred for such calls.”
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(Joint Letter at 1.)
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Defendant contends that the records are within Plaintiff’s possession, custody or control
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because Plaintiff has the legal right to obtain the documents on demand from her telephone service
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provider Metro PCS. (Joint Letter at 2.)
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Plaintiff objected to the requests on the grounds that they are overly broad, are an invasion
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of privacy, and are privileged. (Joint Letter at 4.) Additionally, Plaintiff maintains that the
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records are not in her possession, and that Metro PCS will not release the records without a
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subpoena or court order. (Joint Letter at 4-5.)
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Defendant is entitled to copies of Plaintiff’s telephone records during the period of her
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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employment, and may obtain them one of two ways: Plaintiff’s production or third-party
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subpoena. Plaintiff’s proposal that Best Buy subpoena the records and have them delivered to
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Plaintiff’s counsel for redaction is unreasonable. If Plaintiff wishes to redact the records, she must
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obtain them from the provider and produce them in the course of discovery. Otherwise, Defendant
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must subpoena the (unredacted) records, which would then be subject to the stipulated protective
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order currently in effect.
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IV.
CONCLUSION
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In light of the foregoing, the Court orders the parties to meet and confer to decide whether
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Defendant will subpoena the records or if Plaintiff will obtain them from her service provider and
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produce them with redaction.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: October 14, 2016
__________________________________
KANDIS A. WESTMORE
United States Magistrate Judge
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