Thomas et al v. Txx Services, Inc., et al

Filing 288

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER granting DE 286 Motion for Discovery. For the reasons set forth in the attached Memorandum and Order, Plaintiffs' motion to take an additional deposition of Defendants' expert is granted. Defendants' expert is or dered to appear for a preliminary deposition regarding the meaning and structure of the produced SQL databases by no later than January 20, 2023. Defendants' expert shall then appear for a second deposition and Plaintiffs shall serve their own expert disclosures by no later than March 6, 2023. Defendants will depose Plaintiffs' expert by no later than April 5, 2023. The status conference set for March 6, 2023 is adjourned to April 28, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 820 of the Central Islip Courthouse. The in-person status conference will not be adjourned again for any reason. Ordered by Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke on 12/6/2022. (LP)

Case 2:13-cv-02789-SIL Document 288 Filed 12/06/22 Page 1 of 3 PageID #: 4963

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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CECIL THOMAS and JOHN DEAN, on
behalf of themselves and all others similarly
situated,
-against-

Plaintiffs,

MEMORANDUM AND
ORDER
13-CV-2789 (SIL)

TXX SERVICES, INC. and PATRICIA
DOUGAN HUNT,
Defendants.
----------------------------------------------------------------X
STEVEN I. LOCKE, United States Magistrate Judge:
Plaintiffs seek leave to take an additional deposition of Defendants’
expert. See DE [286]. During expert discovery, Defendants produced SQL databases
without a data dictionary or other explanation of fields, structure and content of the
data, and Defendants’ expert relied on the content of the databases in completing his
expert report. See DE [286] at 1, Exs. 1-2. Defendants contend that only their
retained expert can provide the information necessary to interpret the data. See DE
[286] at 1; DE [287] at 2. As a result, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary deposition of
Defendants’ expert to understand the databases followed by a second, substantive
expert deposition. See DE [286] at 3.
Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”) (26)(b)(2)(A) and
30(a)(2)(A)(ii), the Court, in its discretion, may grant leave to a party to take an
additional deposition of a deponent. See Fed. R. Civ. P. (26)(b)(2)(A), 30(a)(2)(A)(ii).
In exercising its discretion, the Court considers: “‘(1) whether the second deposition

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Case 2:13-cv-02789-SIL Document 288 Filed 12/06/22 Page 2 of 3 PageID #: 4964

of the witness would be unnecessarily cumulative; (2) whether the party requesting
the deposition has had other opportunities to obtain the same information; and (3)
whether the burden of a second deposition outweighs its potential benefit.’”
Burlington Packaging, Inc. v. Extra Packaging, Inc., 08-CV-1515 (PK), 2021 WL
9350610, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2021) (quoting U.S. v. Prevezon Holdings, Ltd., 320
F.R.D. 112, 115 (S.D.N.Y. 2017)). The Court has “‘discretion to make a determination
which is fair and reasonable under all the relevant circumstances.’” Id. (quoting
Ganci v. U.S. Limousine Serv., Ltd., No. CV 10-3027(JFB)(AKT), 2011 WL 4407461,
at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Sep. 21, 2011)).
Applying these standards, the Court grants Plaintiffs leave to take an
additional deposition of Defendants’ expert. Defendants are obligated to explain the
SQL databases they produced as structured databases are “highly unique and
customized to support a specific task or system owner,” and “the ability to fully
understand . . . data within a database requires knowledge of data relationships, what
the information represents, and how it was generated.” Winfield v. City of New York,
15CV05236LTSKHP, 2018 WL 840085, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 12, 2018) (citation and
quotation omitted). Moreover, Defendants’ expert is the only person that can explain
the databases, so Plaintiffs have no other means to obtain the same information.
Finally, the benefit of two depositions so that Plaintiffs can first interpret the
databases and then adequately depose Defendants’ expert regarding his report
outweighs a burden on Defendants. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted.

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Case 2:13-cv-02789-SIL Document 288 Filed 12/06/22 Page 3 of 3 PageID #: 4965

Defendants’ expert is ordered to appear for a preliminary deposition regarding
the meaning and structure of the produced SQL databases by no later than January
20, 2023. Defendants’ expert shall then appear for a second deposition and Plaintiffs
shall serve their own expert disclosures by no later than March 6, 2023. Defendants
will depose Plaintiffs’ expert by no later than April 5, 2023. The status conference
set for March 6, 2023 is adjourned to April 28, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 820
of the Central Islip Courthouse.

The in-person status conference will not be

adjourned again for any reason.
Dated:

Central Islip, New York
December 6, 2022

SO ORDERED.
/s/ Steven I. Locke
STEVEN I. LOCKE
United States Magistrate Judge

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