Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston v. Ally Financial, Inc. et al

Filing 615

Judge George A. O'Toole, Jr: ORDER entered granting in part 534 Motion ; granting in part 553 Motion for Discovery; granting 569 Motion for Discovery; granting 601 Motion for Modification (Halley, Taylor)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-10952-GAO
FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF BOSTON,
Plaintiff,
v.
ALLY FINANCIAL, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER
December 30, 2016
O’TOOLE, D.J.
The following pending discovery motions are resolved as follows:
1. Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Motion Regarding Deposition Limits (dkt. no. 534)
is GRANTED IN PART. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b), 30. The Bank is permitted to take
twenty-seven depositions.1 Depositions of witnesses who have already been deposed in
previous related matters are limited to five hours each. The question whether depositions
taken in other cases may be used as if they were taken in this action is reserved.
2. The Bank’s Motion to Authorize Discovery (dkt. no. 553) is GRANTED IN PART. I
conclude that the Protective Order does not prohibit the requested use of the information.
The subpoenas do not disclose confidential information subject to the Protective Order or
implicated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act because the employer recipients of the
subpoenas are already in possession of that same, non-sensitive information (i.e., the
employer’s name and the employee’s name). The Bank is authorized to serve subpoenas

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This total includes the Impac defendants.

on the past or present employers of the 199 identified borrowers subject to the following
conditions: (1) the Bank shall make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice to the
borrowers of its intention to serve the subpoenas at least twenty-one days prior to service
of the subpoenas on the employers; (2) all information provided by the employers in
response to the subpoenas shall be treated as Protected Material under the Protective Order;
and (3) the subpoenas may demand production only of the following employee material:
“W-2 forms or any other tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service or state agencies
for the period 2005 to 2007 for [employee name]”. The parties shall work cooperatively to
draft a mutually agreeable cover letter for the subpoenas.
3. The defendants’ Motion to Enlarge Deposition Time to Permit Fair Examination of
Plaintiff’s Portfolio Manager Witnesses (dkt. no. 569) is GRANTED. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
30(d)(1). The defendant groups together may depose each of the two witnesses for up to
three seven-hour days. The defendant groups shall coordinate to the extent possible on
questioning concerning common issues.
4. The parties’ Joint Motion to Modify Scheduling Order (dkt. no. 601) is GRANTED. The
fact discovery deadline is extended to March 17, 2017. The Clerk shall set a status
conference for April 3, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
It is SO ORDERED.
/s/ George A. O’Toole, Jr.
United States District Judge

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