Marine Depot International, Inc. v. James River Group, Inc.
Filing
133
ORDER granting, in part 118 Plaintiff's Discovery Motion. Signed by Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis on 10/14/2020. See attached document for full details. (age)
Case 1:19-cv-24821-KMW Document 133 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/14/2020 Page 1 of 3
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Case No.1:19-cv-24821-WILLIAMS/LOUIS
MARINE DEPOT INTERNATIONAL, INC.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
JAMES RIVER GROUP, INC.,
Defendant.
______________________________________/
DISCOVERY ORDER
This matter is before the Court upon Plaintiff Marine Depot International, Inc.’s
Discovery Motion (ECF No. 118). A hearing was conducted on this Motion on October 13, 2020,
and the noticed disputes were disposed of in open court. This Order memorializes but does not
modify the rulings made in open court.
As an initial matter, Plaintiff raised Defendant James River Group Inc.’s lack of
production in response to Plaintiff’s Third Request for Production. Having gone through the
specific requests at the hearing, it was made clear that Plaintiff’s requests seek information
regarding the rates Defendant paid other I.T. vendors, particularly Carmen Solutions (by or
through Leading Edge, a related entity), for similar services initially provided by Ayassure;
Plaintiff defends the discovery as relevant to proving its unjust enrichment claim, which
alleges that Defendant received services from Ayassure at a below market rate.
Defendant opposes producing any more information or documents on two grounds.
Primarily, Defendant opposes on relevance, as it has been discovered that all work performed
by Ayassure for Defendant was done pursuant to mutually executed work orders at negotiated
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rates; Defendant argues this negates Plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim. Moreover, Defendant
has objected to producing anything, including witnesses for depositions, because Plaintiff’s
recent deposition testimony calls into question Plaintiff’s standing to assert any claim of
damage flowing from Defendant’s relationship with Ayassure.
Notwithstanding Defendant’s objections, the Court has previously recognized the
relevance and discoverability of rates paid by Defendant to entities other than Plaintiff for
comparable I.T. services. Defendant has already produced work orders revealing rates
Defendant paid for services performed by former Ayassure employees, subsequently hired by
Carmen Solutions, to evidence comparably paid rates for similar services. Plaintiff seeks
information beyond these six employees and seeks a description of the nature of the work
performed in order to evaluate the comparison of the rates paid.
Notwithstanding the prior finding that Plaintiff had shown the relevance of rates
Defendant paid to other I.T. vendors to evidence that the rates paid to Ayassure were lower,
Plaintiff’s pursuit of the information through the Requests for Production at issue in the
Motion to Compel vastly exceed that which is proportional to the needs of the case. Thus, the
Court found the best way for Plaintiff to obtain the sought-after information was for Defendant
to provide a supplemental answer to Interrogatory No. 1, which seeks employees’ names,
descriptions of services provided, and hourly rates paid by Defendant among other information
(ECF No. 118-5 at 5). The Court orders that Defendant provide a supplemental response to
Interrogatory No. 1 within seven days, which provides the requested information for the six
former Ayassure employees for which work orders were previously provided, as well as for
up to six other Carmen Solution employees who had similar skill levels and/or performed
similar work on or before October 24, 2019.
As for Plaintiff’s request to compel an answer to Interrogatory No. 2, Plaintiff’s request
Case 1:19-cv-24821-KMW Document 133 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/14/2020 Page 3 of 3
is denied. Plaintiff’s request to compel documents in response to Plaintiff’s Second Request
for Production, Request No. 14, is also denied. Defendant’s counsel has averred that all
documents responsive to Request No. 14 have been produced, and the Court is satisfied with
Defendant’s counsel’s explanation of the searches performed. Defendant’s counsel further
averred that the project management database was searched, and that all responsive documents
were produced. Thus, Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s Second Request for Production,
Request No. 17, is not deficient.
Finally, as to Defendant’s objections to Plaintiff’s Third Party Subpoenas, Defendant
has since filed a Motion to Quash (ECF No. 129), which has been joined by Third Party Dixon
Hughes (ECF No. 130). The Court will address the Third Party Subpoenas, and Defendant’s
Objections thereto, once Defendant’s Motion to Quash is ripe for review.
DONE and ORDERED in Miami, Florida this 14th day of October, 2020.
________________________________
LAUREN F. LOUIS
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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