National Fair Housing Alliance Inc et al v. Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae")
Filing
100
ORDER RE: DISCOVERY DISPUTE JOINT LETTER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on 8/24/2020. (ahm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/24/2020)
1
2
3
4
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
5
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
6
7
NATIONAL FAIR HOUSING ALLIANCE
INC, et al.,
8
9
10
United States District Court
Northern District of California
11
12
Plaintiffs,
v.
Case No. 16-cv-06969-JSW (JSC)
ORDER RE: DISCOVERY DISPUTE
JOINT LETTER
Re: Dkt. No. 99
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE
ASSOCIATION,
Defendant.
13
This lawsuit has been referred to the undersigned magistrate judge for resolution of
14
discovery disputes. Now pending before the Court is a discovery dispute joint letter regarding the
15
16
time limits of Plaintiffs’ discovery requests. (Dkt. No. 99.) After carefully considering the
parties’ written submission, the Court concludes that oral argument is not necessary, see N.D. Cal.
17
Civ. L.R. 7-1(b), and denies the relief sought by the letter.
18
Plaintiffs seek to require Defendant to search for responsive documents going back
19
through June 2009—apparently for every single request without distinction. The Court is not
20
21
persuaded by Plaintiffs’ one-size-fits-all approach.
First, Plaintiffs’ apparent assertion that their disparate impact claims reach back to June
22
2009 and that the district court acknowledged the applicability of the continuous violation doctrine
23
to allow them to do so misstates the record. Defendant moved to dismiss the disparate impact
24
claims as barred by the statute of limitations “to the extent a purported disparity [is] based on their
25
investigation that occurred from 2011 to 2015—which includes many inspections outside the
26
limitations timeframe.” (Dkt. No. 29 at ECF 19.) According to Defendant, for the inspections to
27
supply actionable evidence of disparities, the inspections and evidence derived from them would
28
1
have had to occur after May 2013, which is as far back as the statute of limitations reaches for this
2
case. Defendant concluded: “They have not alleged a disparity based on observations between
3
2013 and 2015 and thus have not sufficiently alleged a disparity.” (Id.) The district court
4
disagreed that the disparities uncovered by the 2011 to 2015 investigation that involve
5
observations before May 2013 could not form the basis of the disparate impact claim.
6
7
8
9
10
“[P]restatute of limitations data is generally both relevant and
frequently used in such matters as evidence of the alleged
discriminatory practice, even when a plaintiff may not directly
recover as to events occurring outside the applicable time period.”
Based on the Court’s review of the allegations, the factual background
facts outside of the limitations period may relevant even when they
do not form the basis for independent liability and are not grounds for
dismissal.
(Dkt. No. 38 at 10.) Thus, to the extent the district court adopted Plaintiffs’ continuing violation
11
United States District Court
Northern District of California
theory, it was in the context of 2011 to 2015 investigation, not conduct that occurred before then.
12
Second, Plaintiffs argue that the 2009 time frame is relevant to their background
13
allegations regarding their meetings with Fannie Mae. (Amended Complaint para.18, 157-59,
14
163.) As a preliminary matter, the district court did not hold, as Plaintiffs suggest, that the 2009
15
meetings supported an inference of discriminatory intent; instead, the district court held that
16
Plaintiffs’ allegations that following their investigation begun in 2011 Fannie Mae refused to
17
change its conduct was sufficient at the pleading stage to support discriminatory intent. (Dkt. No.
18
70 at ECF 9-10.) Nonetheless, evidence of the 2009 meetings could provide support for the
19
alleged discriminatory intent and they are alleged as background facts in the Amended Complaint.
20
Thus, evidence regarding those meetings is relevant evidence. But although Defendant offered to
21
produce documents relevant to particular requests, Plaintiffs chose to argue that their right to
22
develop background facts means that Defendant must search back to June 2009 for all requests.
23
That position is not reasonable nor consistent with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1 and 26(b).
24
However, Defendant requests that the Court limit all discovery to information that post25
dates July 1, 2011 is too cramped. Defendant contends that because Plaintiffs’ investigation
26
commenced in July 2011, any conduct before that time is irrelevant to their claims. While the
27
Court is not familiar with the intricacies of the claims or evidence, it seems that if Plaintiffs’
28
2
1
disparate impact analysis is based on a house that Fannie Mae was responsible for before July
2
2011, information that Fannie Mae has about that house might be relevant and discoverable, even
3
if the information was created before that date. And, as explained above, evidence of the 2009
4
meetings and Defendant’s response, or lack thereof, to them is also relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims.
5
Thus, Defendant had it right when they offered to consider going back to June 2009 for particular
6
requests. They are required to consider whether a search to June 2009 might be appropriate for a
7
particular request.
8
Accordingly, all the relief sought in the joint discovery letter is DENIED.
9
This Order disposes of Docket No. 99.
10
United States District Court
Northern District of California
11
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: August 24, 2020
12
13
JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY
United States Magistrate Judge
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
3
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?