McDaniel v. Dietrich School District No. 314 et al

Filing 43

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that the motion to quash (docket no. 34 ) is DENIED. The IDHW shall provide, within ten days from the date of this decision, two copies of the McDaniel family file materials to the Clerks Office of the Court (to the attention of Law Clerk David Metcalf), and the Court will distribute the two copies to counsel. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that defendants shall provide to the Court for signature a clean copy of the Proposed Protective Order at Exhibit D (Dkt. No. 39 -1). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the motion for guardian ad litem (docket no. 26 ) is RESERVED pending a future hearing. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that a hearing shall be held on the motion for guardian ad litem (docke t no. 26) on 5/9/2017, at 3:00 p.m. in the Federal Courthouse in Boise Idaho. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the motion for Rule 35 examination (docket no. 33 ) is GRANTED pursuant to the five agreements listed above. Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (cjs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

ANTWON McDANIEL
Case No. 1:16-cv-202-BLW
Plaintiff,
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND
ORDER

v.

DIETRICH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.
314, et al.,
Defendants.

INTRODUCTION
The Court has before it a motion to quash subpoena filed by the Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare, a motion for a Rule 35 examination filed by defendants, and a
motion to appoint a guardian ad litem filed by the plaintiff. The motions are fully briefed
and at issue. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny the motion to quash,
grant the motion for a Rule 35 examination, and reserve ruling on the motion for a
guardian ad litem until the Court can conduct an evidentiary hearing.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff McDaniel brings this action for damages alleging that he was subjected to
racial discrimination, pervasive harassment, and anal rape while a student at Dietrich
High School. McDaniel alleges that his injuries include a severe and permanent stress
disorder that will require life-long counseling and treatment. At the time of these
incidents, McDaniel was in foster care with the family of Tim and Shelly McDaniel who
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have been foster or adoptive parents for many children over the years. In that capacity as
foster and adoptive parents, Tim and Shelly McDaniel have worked closely with IDHW.
To determine whether McDaniel’s injuries resulted from the incidents alleged or
from some other cause, the defendants sought the IDHW files on the McDaniel family.
Unable to reach an agreement out of court, the defendants filed a subpoena on the IDHW
seeking the following documents:
(1) Any and all adoption records related to any children placed in the care of Tim
McDaniel and Shelly McDaniel at any time;
(2) Any and all foster care records related to any children placed in the care of Tim
McDaniel and Shelly McDaniel at any time;
(3) Any and all documents which have been submitted in connection with, or as part
of any applications for adoption or foster care by Tim and/or Shelly McDaniel;
(4) Any and all documents pertaining to any complaints, issues or concerns lodged by
any persons including third parties, government officials, or any child in their
permanent or temporary care; and
(5) Any and all documents showing monies paid to either Tim or Shelly McDaniel
related to any children in their permanent or temporary care.
The IDHW responded by filing a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that it was
overbroad and unduly burdensome. In the alternative, the IDHW argued that if the
material must be turned over that it be covered by a protective order. Defendants agreed
to the issuance of a protective order, but the parties were unable to stipulate to its terms.
The issue must therefore be resolved by the Court.
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Plaintiffs have filed a motion to appoint McDaniel’s father – Tim McDaniel – as his
guardian ad litem. The defendants agree that McDaniel needs a guardian ad litem but ask
that a neutral attorney be appointed instead of McDaniel’s father.
Finally, the defendants filed a motion for Rule 35 examination that was resolved
during a telephone conference with the Court. The Court will describe that agreement at
the end of this decision.
The Court will now turn to a discussion of the legal standards that govern the motion
to quash and the motion for guardian ad litem, and will then resolve those motions as
well as the motion for Rule 35 examination.
LEGAL STANDARDS
Motion to Quash Subpoena
Under Rule 45(a), defendants may seek a subpoena commanding a third party,
such as the IDHW, to “produce designated documents, electronically stored information,
or tangible things in that person’s possession, custody, or control.” See Fed.R.Civ.P.
45(a)(1)(A)(iii). The Court may quash or modify the subpoena if it “requires disclosure
of privileged or other protected matter, if no exception or waiver applies.” See
Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(d)(3)(A)(iii).
To provide protection for sensitive material, Rule 26(c) authorizes the Court to
issue a protective order “for good cause” to protect a party or any person from
“annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense.” See Fed.R.Civ.P.
26(c)(1). The party seeking a protective order must demonstrate that “good cause” exists
for the protection of that evidence. Rivera v. NIBCO, Inc., 384 F.3d 822, 827 (9th
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Cir.2004). “Good cause” is established where it is specifically demonstrated that
disclosure will cause a “specific prejudice or harm.” Rivera, 384 F.3d at 827. But
“[b]road allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated
reasoning, do not satisfy the Rule 26(c) test.” Rivera, 384 F.3d at 827.
Motion for Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem
The Court has the power to appoint a guardian ad litem pursuant to Rule 17(c)(2).
The purpose of Rule 17(c) is to protect an incompetent person’s interests in prosecuting
or defending a lawsuit. Davis v Walker, 745 F.3d 1303, 1310 (9th Cir. 2014). “We read
Rule 17(c) to require a district court to take whatever measures it deems proper to protect
an incompetent person during litigation.” Id. at p. 1311 (citation omitted).
The powers of a guardian ad litem appointed under Rule 17(c)(2) “are limited to
protecting the legal rights of the disabled party in the particular litigation and no property
may pass into the guardian’s hands.” See 6A Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice
and Procedure, § 1572 at p. 685 (2010). McDaniel will need to get a general guardian
appointed in state court if he prevails and the guardian is to receive any award. Id. at pp.
685-86.
ANALYSIS
Motion to Quash Subpoena
Because the IDHW files could shed light on pre-existing conditions and the
conditions in the McDaniel home, they are discoverable. The IDHW argues, however,
that by requesting materials on all children placed in the McDaniel home, the subpoena is
overbroad and unduly burdensome. This request would involve, according to the IDHW,
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a minimum of 17 children, whose files are organized and stored by their biological names
and birthdate, and not under the name of the McDaniel. Thus, those files would be
difficult for the IDHW to obtain because the defendants have not identified the children
by name. Moreover, the records of each child are held in different offices.
But this burden was removed by defendants’ clarification that they are only
seeking IDHW “documents and records pertaining to the McDaniel family.” See Defense
Brief (Dkt. No. 39) at p. 8. Thus, the defendants are not seeking each child’s individual
file, but only the single file for the McDaniel family. The Court would have placed this
limitation on the subpoena in any event.
It may be that after reviewing the McDaniel family file, the defendants will
request the individual files of certain children. The Court expresses no opinion at this
time whether such additional discovery will be allowed. But at this point, the Court will
order the IDHW to turn over the McDaniel family file. From the Court’s telephone
conference with counsel, the Court understands that the only redactions will be to Social
Security numbers and birthdates. More specifically, the IDHW shall not redact the
names of any children in the file.
The defendants offered a protective order to keep the material confidential. See
Proposed Protective Order at Exhibit D (Dkt. No. 39-1). That protective order gives the
proper level of protection to the material, and the Court will direct defendants to provide
a copy to the Court for issuance.

Memorandum Decision & Order – page 5

Motion for Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem
McDaniel asks that his father be appointed while defendants ask that a neutral
attorney be appointed. Under the authorities cited above, the Court has broad discretion
in selecting a guardian ad litem. The parties have raised in their briefing questions that
require more information to answer. Some of that necessary information might come
from the IDHW file that the Court ordered produced, as discussed above. More
information would be provided in a hearing where the Court could hear from Tim
McDaniel and any other candidate for guardian ad litem. The Court will therefore
reserve ruling on the motion until it can hold a hearing, and the Court will set that hearing
on a date sufficiently in the future to give the parties an opportunity to review the IDHW
file.
The Court will also order the IDHW to provide two copies of the file, one for
plaintiff and one for the defense.
Motion for Rule 35 Examination
During a telephone conference with the Court, the parties agreed that (1) Mark
Ellis, rather than Tim McDaniel, would sit in on the exam with McDaniel; (2) No
attorneys would attend the session; (3) the session would be videotaped; (4) the session
would be a day long, with another session to be scheduled if needed; and (5) the
defendants would pay Mark Ellis and the plaintiff to attend the session in Boise. The
Court will therefore grant the motion pursuant to the agreement on these five points.
ORDER
In accordance with the Memorandum Decision above,
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NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that the motion to quash
(docket no. 34) is DENIED. The IDHW shall provide, within ten days from the date of
this decision, two copies of the McDaniel family file materials to the Clerk’s Office of
the Court (to the attention of Law Clerk David Metcalf), and the Court will distribute the
two copies to counsel.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that defendants shall provide to the Court for
signature a clean copy of the Proposed Protective Order at Exhibit D (Dkt. No. 39-1).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the motion for guardian ad litem (docket no.
26) is RESERVED pending a future hearing.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that a hearing shall be held on the motion for
guardian ad litem (docket no. 26) on May 9, 2017, at 3:00 p.m. in the Federal
Courthouse in Boise Idaho.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the motion for Rule 35 examination (docket no.
33) is GRANTED pursuant to the five agreements listed above.

DATED: March 6, 2017

_________________________
B. Lynn Winmill
Chief Judge
United States District Court

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