Brown v. Goodman Manufacturing Company LP et al

Filing 53

JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY. Signed by Honorable J Michelle Childs on 4/24/2015. (asni, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
AIKEN DIVISION
JEFF BROWN, on behalf of himself and all
others similarly situated,
Plaintiff,
v.
GOODMAN MANUFACTURING
COMPANY, L.P., GOODMAN GLOBAL,
INC., and GOODMAN COMPANY, L.P.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 1:13-cv-03169-JMC

JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY
WHEREAS, a first set of Requests for Production and first Set of Interrogatories were
served as part of omnibus discovery promulgated in this and several other cases involving
Goodman products on February 27, 2014 and February 28, 2014 (the “Omnibus Requests for
Production” and “Omnibus Interrogatories”).
WHEREAS, Defendants served their Responses and Objections to the Omnibus
Requests for Production on March 14, 2014 and their Responses and Objections to the Omnibus
Interrogatories on April 14, 2014.
WHEREAS, the parties met and conferred and reached agreement on the scope of
Defendants’ discovery obligations in this matter.
WHEREAS, the parties have agreed to coordinate non-plaintiff discovery with other
similar litigation pending against Defendants, including, PB Property Management, Inc. v.
Goodman Manufacturing Co., No. 3:12-cv-01366-HES-JBT (M.D. Fla.), McVicar v. Goodman

Global, Inc., No. 8:13-cv-01223-DOC-RNB (C.D. Cal.), Siriano v. Goodman Manufacturing,
Inc., No. 2:14-cv-1131 (S.D. Ohio), and Gustafson v. Goodman Manufacturing Company L.P.,
No. 3:13-cv-08274 (D. Ariz.).
WHEREAS, the parties have agreed that coordinating non-plaintiff discovery includes
coordinating and cross-noticing Defendant depositions and defining the scope of document
production by Defendants in accordance with the terms of the Joint Stipulation and Oder entered
on October 6, 2014 in McVicar v. Goodman Global, Inc., No. 8:13-cv-01223-DOC-RNB (C.D.
Cal.). A copy of the Joint Stipulation and Order is attached as Exhibit 1.
WHEREAS, as set forth in Exhibit 1, the parties have agreed upon the following search
phrases that will be applied to the hard drives of the custodians identified below:

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Search Phrase
((a-coil OR a-coils) w/20 (bad* OR complain* OR corro* OR crack* OR damag* OR
defect* OR design* OR engineer* OR guarantee* OR hole* OR leak* OR pinhol* OR
redesign* OR replac* OR switch* OR warrant*)) and not (condenser or 5mm or "5
mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
((aluminum AND (coil* OR evaporator*)) w/20 (bad* OR complain* OR corro* OR
crack* OR damag* OR defect* OR design* OR engineer* OR guarantee* OR hole*
OR leak* OR pinhol* OR redesign* OR replac* OR switch* OR warrant*)) and not
(condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
((copper AND (coil* OR evap* OR tub*)) w/20 (bad* OR complain* OR corro* OR
crack* OR damag* OR defect* OR design* OR engineer* OR guarantee* OR hole*
OR leak* OR pinhol* OR redesign* OR replac* OR switch* OR warrant*)) and not
(condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
(evaporator* w/20 (bad* OR complain* OR corro* OR crack* OR damag* OR defect*
OR design* OR engineer* OR guarantee* OR hole* OR leak* OR pinhol* OR
redesign* OR replac* OR switch* OR warrant*)) and not (condenser or 5mm or "5
mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
formicary and not (condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
(("product quality report" OR PQR) w/20 (aluminum OR coil* OR copper OR corro*
OR evaporator OR freon OR hole* OR leak* OR pinhol* OR refrigerant*)) and not
(condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
(refrigerant* w/20 (bad* OR corro* OR crack* OR damag* OR defect* OR design*
OR engineer* OR hole* OR leak* OR pinhol* OR redesign*)) and not (condenser or
5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)
(("return material authorization" OR RMA) w/20 (aluminum OR coil* OR copper OR
evaporator OR tub*)) and not (condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or

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smartcoil)
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(("Special Project Authorization" OR SPA) w/20 (aluminum OR coil* OR copper OR
evaporator OR freon OR move to OR refrigerant* OR thick* OR thin* OR tub*)) and
not (condenser or 5mm or "5 mm" or "smart coil" or smartcoil)

WHEREAS, the parties have agreed upon the following custodians whose files will be
searched:
1.

Hal Allen

2.

Rex Anderson

3.

Marshall Blackham

4.

Stan Cushen

5.

Steve Griffin

6.

Paula Hargrove

7.

Michael Kubiak

8.

Ray Pitts

9.

Dave Swift

10.

Lynn Wright

WHEREAS, the parties have agreed that Defendants shall produce responsive
documents from the ESI collected from the hard drives of the custodians listed above within 10
business days of the Court’s entry of this Joint Stipulation. In addition, the parties have agreed
that within 10 business days of the Court’s entry of this Joint Stipulation, Defendants shall
produce the following “core” category documents identified by Plaintiff: (1) Marketing
documents relating to the HVAC units of the type at issue in this case; (2) studies on corrosion of
evaporator coils; (3) documents regarding the named plaintiff in this matter; and (4) warranty
claim database re evaporator coils.

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WHEREAS, the parties have agreed that Defendants shall produce privilege logs within
20 business days of the Court’s entry of this Joint Stipulation.
WHEREAS, the parties have further agreed to coordinate depositions of Defendants’
current or former employees in this matter and the PB Property, McVicar, Siriano, and
Gustafson matters. The parties agree that all depositions of Defendants’ current or former
employees in PB Property, McVicar, Gustafson, and/or Siriano matters (including those
depositions that have already occurred) will be deemed cross-noticed in this matter.
WHEREAS, the parties agree that unless otherwise agreed to by the parties or ordered
by the Court, no Defendant witness subject to deposition in this matter or in the PB Property,
McVicar, Gustafson, or Siriano matters shall be deposed more than once. This restriction does
not apply to persons rendering plaintiff-specific expert opinions.
THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree and stipulate that the foregoing production
schedule and coordination of depositions of Defendants’ employees in this matter and the PB
Property, McVicar, Siriano, and Gustafson matters shall define Defendants’ production
obligations in this matter and govern all depositions of Defendants’ employees in this matter.
The parties therefore file this Joint Stipulation to request that the Court enter an Order consistent
with this agreement.

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Dated: April 23, 2015

STROM LAW FIRM, LLC
By: s/ John R. Alphin
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Dated: April 23, 2015

HOOD LAW FIRM, LLC
By: s/ Robert H. Hood, Jr.
Attorneys for Defendants

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 24th day of April, 2015.
s/J. Michelle Childs
HON. J. MICHELLE CHILDS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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