Benedict v. Hewlett-Packard Company

Filing 149

ORDER re 87 Discovery Letter BriefJoint Report #1 filed by Hewlett-Packard Company. Signed by Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd on 12/18/2013. (hrllc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/18/2013)

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*E-Filed: December 18, 2013*

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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For the Northern District of California

NOT FOR CITATION

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United States District Court

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SAN JOSE DIVISION

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ERIC BENEDICT, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs,

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v.

No. C13-00119 LHK (HRL)
ORDER ON DISCOVERY DISPUTE
JOINT REPORT #1

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HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY,

[Re: Docket No. 87]

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Defendant.
____________________________________/

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Eric Benedict sues Hewlett-Packard Company (“HP”) over its alleged failure to pay him for

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overtime worked. During discovery, HP learned that Benedict made and kept a mirror image of his

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employer-issued laptop before returning it upon resigning. This laptop reportedly was an important

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tool used by plaintiff in performing his job duties, and it contained reams of information about HP’s

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business, some of it confidential. Apparently intermingled with the HP information was personal

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information of the plaintiff. Benedict now explains that he was only interested in saving the

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personal information and did not intend to, nor did he, misuse any of the HP data. HP remains

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unpersuaded by plaintiff’s protests of innocence and is suspicious that he was up to no good. HP

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wants the mirror image back. However, the issues surrounding that effort are not the subject of the

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current discovery dispute.

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The dispute here is whether plaintiff may, under the Protective Order, designate the identity

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of his current employer as either “Highly Confidential-Attorneys’ Eyes Only”(“AEO”) or (his

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compromise proposal) “Confidential” but with the added caveat that no HP employee may contact

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that employer. Plaintiff insists he needs this protection for fear that HP managers, in retaliation for

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his daring to sue over overtime, will contact his current employer and bad mouth him for what they

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would characterize as his dishonesty. HP retorts that plaintiff’s concern is nonsense, that the name

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of his current employer does not merit protection under the Protective Order, and that either the

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AEO or Confidential designation would hamstring its legitimate discovery inquiries.

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The dispute is driven by distrust. Benedict does not trust HP to not go behind his back and

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harm his relationship with his current employer. HP does not trust anything plaintiff now says about

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innocent intentions and no-harm-done because he made and took that mirror image of all his work.

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At this point, each side’s fears are speculative. This court will not credit speculation in deciding this

For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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dispute. It would be most unusual in a case such as this to grant protective order protection to the

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name of a current employer of a plaintiff, and on the showing here the court declines to do so.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: December 18, 2013
HOWARD R. LLOYD
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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C13-00119 Notice will be electronically mailed to:

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Adam T. Klein

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Caryn F Horner [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail]

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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Daniel M. Hutchinson

[e-mail]

David Ryan Carpenter

[e-mail]

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Jahan C. Sagafi

[e-mail]

Jennifer Lin Liu

[e-mail]

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Juno E. Turner [e-mail], [e-mail],
[e-mail]

For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Kelly M. Dermody

[e-mail]

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Marc Pilotin

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Mark E. Haddad

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Max Fischer

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Wendy M. Lazerson

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Counsel are responsible for distributing copies of this document to co-counsel who have not
registered for e-filing under the court’s CM/ECF program.

[e-mail], [e-mail]
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

[e-mail], [e-mail]
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

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