Bayer v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company
Filing
33
ORDER re 32 Discovery Hearing held on July 17, 2015. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman on 7/20/2015. (tr00)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION
CASE NO. 14‐23934‐CIV‐LENARD/GOODMAN
JENNIFER BAYER,
Plaintiff,
v.
RELIANCE STANDARD LIFE
INSURANCE CO,
Defendant.
______________________________/
DISCOVERY HEARING ORDER
Plaintiff Jennifer Bayer filed a Notice of Hearing on July 6, 2015, setting a
discovery hearing before the Undersigned to address myriad discovery issues arising
from Defendant Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company’s objections to
interrogatories and requests for production.1 [ECF No. 29]. The District Court has
referred all discovery matters to the Undersigned. [ECF No. 7].
Technically speaking, parties cannot file discovery motions, as the discovery
procedures order [ECF Nos. 7; 30] prohibits written discovery motions. Rather, the
parties are directed to place the discovery dispute on the Undersigned’s discovery
calendar if they are unable to resolve the discovery dispute after conferring.
1
The Court held a hearing on July 17, 2015 (the “Hearing”) to address the issues.
[ECF No. 32]. For the reasons set forth at the Hearing,2 it is ORDERED and
ADJUDGED as follows:
1)
At the outset, the Undersigned rejects the premise that discovery in this
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) case is limited to the four
corners of the administrative record. The Undersigned thus adopts the perspective on
this issue articulated in Cerrito v. Liberty Life Assurance Co., 209 F.R.D. 663, 664 (M.D. Fla.
2002), that, as long as Plaintiff’s discovery requests are sufficiently tailored to meet the
requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1), then the Court will allow such
discovery requests and not impose a blanket rule that such requests may not go beyond
the four corners of the administrative record. See also Emery v. American Airlines, Inc.,
No. 08‐22590‐CIV, 2010 WL 457151, at *2 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 4, 2010) (Plaintiff’s
interrogatories and requests for production that “basically ask[ed] for claims manuals,
procedures guidelines, and handbooks used for assessing the claim or relating to
safeguards for following plan procedures and reducing bias” would “[a]ll [] assist the
Court in showing whether proper procedures were followed with regard to compiling
the record and as well as to determine the accuracy of Emery’s claim evaluation”);
Tarigo v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 12‐21664‐Civ‐COOKE/Turnoff, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
183800, at *11‐12 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 12, 2012) (addressing discovery in ERISA benefits
2
If any party appeals this Order to the District Court, then the transcript of the
hearing will need to be ordered, as it outlines the Undersigned’s reasoning.
2
actions and ruling Plaintiff’s discovery “shall proceed in conformity with the Cerrito
factors”).
2)
Regarding Interrogatory Number 19, Defendant stated in response that
there are no such documents and, as such, any dispute concerning the objection is moot.
3)
Concerning Interrogatory Number 2, Defendant stated in response that it
does not know and cannot identify any such documents with certainty, so there is no
relief that the Court can provide concerning this response.
4)
Concerning Interrogatory Number 3, Defendant shall, by July 24, 2015,
provide a supplemental answer that pinpoints the Bates numbers of all the documents
in the administrative record that answer the question.
5)
Concerning Interrogatory Number 4, Defendant shall, by July 24, 2015,
provide a supplemental answer that pinpoints the Bates numbers of all the documents
in the administrative record that answer the question.
6)
Regarding Interrogatory Number 5, Defendant’s objection is overruled;
Defendant shall, by July 24, 2015, provide a complete supplemental answer.
7)
Concerning Interrogatory Number 6, Defendant shall, by July 24, 2015,
provide a supplemental answer that pinpoints the Bates numbers of all the documents
in the administrative record that answer the question.
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8)
Plaintiff’s counsel attempted to raise an issue with Interrogatory Number
15 at the Hearing; however, any dispute over that interrogatory was not raised in the
Notice of Hearing and so it was not ripe to be heard.
9)
Concerning Interrogatory Number 18, as the Undersigned noted at the
Hearing, the issue would be taken under advisement in light of the competing
authorities that the parties presented regarding the question of whether reserves set
aside in relation to an individual’s claim are discoverable. Defendant objected to
Plaintiff’s request for the calculation of reserves related to her claim, citing Wilcox v.
Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., No. CV 04‐0926, 2009 WL 57053, at *3 (D. Ariz. Jan. 8, 2009)
(declining to permit discovery into the reserve amounts, finding that the plaintiff
provided an insufficient basis connecting the request to the structural conflict in the
case).
At the outset of the Hearing, the Undersigned stated that the Court is adopting
the general position of the Courts in the Eleventh Circuit, see Cerrito, 209 F.R.D. 663, and
is allowing discovery in ERISA cases that goes beyond the four corners of the
administrative record. Pursuant to this general approach, the holding in Howard v.
Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 3:10‐cv‐192‐J‐34TEM, 2011 U.S. Dist. Lexis 68951, at
*20‐21 (M.D. Fla. June 27, 2011) (plaintiff set forth sufficient information such that the
amount of reserves was deemed relevant), and the Undersigned’s assessment of the
issues in this specific case, the Court overrules Defendant’s objection.
4
“Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is
relevant to any partyʹs claim or defense[.]” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). In the Undersigned’s
view, Plaintiff has presented a sufficient argument that the amount of the reserves
maintained for Plaintiff’s claim by Defendant is relevant and discoverable.3 As noted
above, the courts of this Circuit in similar ERISA cases do permit a broader scope of
discovery than other Circuits. Within that broader scope ‐‐ i.e. outside the bounds of the
administrative record in the matter ‐‐ the Undersigned finds inquiry into the amount of
reserves to be relevant because, as Plaintiff’s counsel stated at the Hearing, the amount
or calculation of reserves on Plaintiff’s disability claim may show reasoning for
Defendant’s ultimate termination of benefits, as well as lead to numerous other relevant
pieces of information, such as the date when the calculated reserve might have changed
‐‐ whether that change was made before or after a further investigation or review of
Plaintiff’s claim. See Howard, 2011 U.S. Dist. Lexis at *20‐21.
Accordingly, Defendants shall, by July 27, 2015, substantively respond to
Interrogatory 18, providing “the amount of reserve(s) set aside in relation to Plaintiff’s
claim and identify the corresponding time period to which the stated reserve(s)
applied.”
3
The Undersigned is not making the determination that such information will
ultimately prove admissible for use at trial or in motion practice, or that such discovery
will be permitted in all ERISA cases. Instead, the ruling is only that such information is
discoverable in this specific case.
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10)
Concerning Request for Production Number 16, Defendant’s counsel
must confer with Defendant and determine whether the guidelines posted on the
company’s intranet today are the same guidelines used from 2009 through 2013. If the
guidelines are the same, then the current guidelines must be produced. If the guidelines
have changed since the relevant timeframe of 2009 through 2013, then Defendant must
produce the current guidelines (or the guidelines that Defendant possesses that are
closest to the ones in the relevant timeframe ‐‐ from 2014 or another time that is closer to
the timeframe at issue), along with an under‐oath explanation of what has changed
between the guidelines produced and the guidelines from 2009 through 2013.
Defendant must complete this task and produce the guidelines and explanation by July
31, 2015.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers, at Miami, Florida, July 20, 2015.
Copies furnished to:
The Honorable Joan A. Lenard
All counsel of record
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