Riley et al v. PK Management, LLC et al

Filing 116

ORDER denying 79 Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Production. Following in camera review, the Court denies Plaintiffs' motion insofar as it seeks to compel Defendant Aspen Companies Management, LLC to produce an unredacted version of Bates no. Aspen007901 to Plaintiffs. Signed by Magistrate Judge Teresa J. James on 2/15/2019. (ts)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS
LEORA RILEY, et al.,
Individually and on behalf of all others
similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.
PK MANAGEMENT, LLC, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 18-cv-2337-KHV-TJJ

ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production or, in the
Alternative, for In Camera Review (ECF No. 79). On February 11, 2019, the Court ordered
Defendant Aspen Companies Management, LLC to submit an unredacted copy of the document
in question for in camera review.1 Aspen has done so and the Court has reviewed the document
and is ready to rule.
As Aspen explained in its response to the motion, the email contains a message from its
employee Mr. Levenbrown “communicating a message from the company’s attorney to another
employee down the chain of command.”2 Mr. Levenbrown is the regional manager for Central
Park Towers and direct supervisor to the other employee in the email chain, Margaret Mejia.
Ms. Mejia is the on-site property manager for Central Park Towers.
After reviewing the contents of the emails provided to Plaintiffs in redacted form, the
Court finds they are subject to attorney-client privilege. The contents are as Aspen explained

1

ECF No. 112.

2

November 27, 2018 letter from counsel (ECF No. 110-1 at 7).

them, i.e. communication from a supervisor to an employee with legal advice from the
company’s lawyer for the employee to follow concerning a KCPT film inquiry. “[T]he attorneyclient privilege extends to communications made within a corporation if those communications
are made for the purpose of securing legal advice.”3
The Court therefore denies Plaintiffs’ motion insofar as it seeks to compel Aspen to
produce an unredacted version of Bates no. Aspen007901 to Plaintiffs.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 15th day of February, 2019, at Kansas City, Kansas.

Teresa J. James
U. S. Magistrate Judge

3

Williams v. Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. 238 F.R.D. 633, 638 (D. Kan. 2006).
2