Witt v. Department of the Air Force et al

Filing 91

ORDER granting 84 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel, signed by Judge Ronald B. Leighton.(DN)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 MAJOR MARGARET WITT, Plaintiff, v.

THE HONORABLE RONALD B. LEIGHTON

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA Case No. C06-5195-RBL

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE; et al., Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS RESPONSIVE TO REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Production of Documents Responsive to Requests for Production Nos. 33 to 36. The Court has considered the following: (1) Plaintiff's motion and any exhibits and declarations thereto; (2) Defendants' responsive briefing, if any, and any exhibits and declarations thereto; and (3) Plaintiff's reply briefing and any exhibits and declarations thereto. Having considered the briefing, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiff's motion to compel, subject to the conditions of a Protective Order, and hereby ORDERS as follows: (1) Defendants must produce documents responsive to Plaintiff's amended Requests for Production Nos. 33-36, no later than 10 days from the date of this order, specifically:

[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOT. TO COMPEL PROD OF DOCS RESP TO REQ FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36 (Case No. 06-5195)­ 1

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 (206) [phone] 624-2184

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a.

All documents pertaining to disciplinary action or admonishment (located in any paper or electronic files and located in personnel files) concerning the relationship between Servicemember-A and Servicemember-B.

b.

All documents relating to Servicemember-C's relationship with Servicemember-D (located in any paper or electronic files and located in personnel files).

c.

All documents relating to Servicemember-E's relationship with Servicemember-F (located in any paper or electronic files and located in personnel files).

(2)

The production of responsive documents shall be subject to conditions specified in (3) Protective Order.

(3) a.

Protective Order Except as may be otherwise agreed to by the parties, or ordered by the Court, records produced pursuant to Order (1) may be disclosed only to the following persons: i. The Court and Court personnel, including stenographic reporters engaged in such proceedings as are necessarily incident to the preparation for trial and/or trial of this action; ii. Counsel of record for any party to this action, including all attorneys of that counsel's law firm or organization;

iii. Employees, paralegal assistants, stenographic, and clerical employees of counsel for the parties only when operating under the direct supervision of counsel; iv. Plaintiff Margaret Witt; v. Defendants, and all managing agents and employees of the agency Defendant, who become involved in this litigation at the request of counsel of record and whose review of protected documents is specifically controlled by counsel; vi. Potential witnesses who become involved in this litigation at the request of counsel of record and whose review of protected documents is specifically controlled by counsel;

[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOT. TO COMPEL PROD OF DOCS RESP TO REQ FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36 (Case No. 06-5195)­ 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 (206) [phone] 624-2184

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vii. Experts or consultants employed by counsel of record for the purpose of assisting in these proceedings, preparation for trial, and/or trial of this action. b. Defendants shall designate records produced pursuant to Order (1) as confidential by placing the following legend on any such record prior to production: "CONFIDENTIAL." In the event that Defendants inadvertently fail to designate a record as confidential information at the time of its production, Defendants shall have five business days after discovery of such error to so designate the record. c. All documents designated as CONFIDENTIAL, and all information derived therefrom, shall be used solely for the purpose of preparing and litigating claims in this action and shall not be disclosed, directly or indirectly, or published in any medium by any party, or disseminated except to qualified persons. d. Any party to this action may proffer into evidence information designated as CONFIDENTIAL at time of trial or by motion or otherwise and such CONFIDENTIAL information may be introduced or shown to witnesses at the time of trial or on motion of any party, subject to normal evidentiary objections. In the event that any material designated as CONFIDENTIAL is used in any court proceeding in this action, it shall not lose its confidential status through such use, and the party using documents designated as CONFIDENTIAL shall maintain its confidentiality during such use, subject to the Court's guidance. e. Any party filing with the Court information designated as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to Order (1) shall file a Stipulation and Order to seal or a motion to seal consistent with Local Civil Rule 5(g). f. Any party or person who knowingly violates this Order may be held in contempt of this Court. The Court and parties preserve the right to order or seek an award of other such relief as is appropriate for such disclosure.

[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOT. TO COMPEL PROD OF DOCS RESP TO REQ FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36 (Case No. 06-5195)­ 3

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 (206) [phone] 624-2184

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g.

Nothing in this Order shall preclude any party, its counsel, or any other person from disclosing or using, in any manner or for any purpose, any records or information not obtained in this action, if such records or information are lawfully obtained from a third party, even though the same records or information may have been produced in discovery as designated as CONFIDENTIAL.

h.

No later than ninety (90) days after the judgment in this action becomes final and all rights of appeal are exhausted, Plaintiff agrees to destroy or return all information designated as CONFIDENTIAL, documents, and things and all copies of the same to Defendants producing such information and documents.

i.

Insofar as the provisions of this Order restrict the use of information designated as CONFIDENTIAL, this Order shall continue to be binding after the conclusion of this litigation.

(4)

Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees is DENIED. IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED this 30th day of May, 2010.

A
RONALD B. LEIGHTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Presented By: By: _/s/ Sher S. Kung_________ Sarah A. Dunne, WSBA #34869 Sher S. Kung, WSBA #42077 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel: [phone] [e-mail] [e-mail] CARNEY BADLEY SPELLMAN James Lobsenz, WSBA#8787 701 5th Ave Ste 3600 Seattle, WA 98104-7010 Tel. [phone] [e-mail] Attorneys for Plaintiff

[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOT. TO COMPEL PROD OF DOCS RESP TO REQ FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36 (Case No. 06-5195)­ 4

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 (206) [phone] 624-2184

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[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING MOT. TO COMPEL PROD OF DOCS RESP TO REQ FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 33 TO 36 (Case No. 06-5195)­ 5 AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 705 Second Avenue, Suite 300 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 Seattle, Washington 98104-1799 (206) [phone] 624-2184

DATED this 13th day of May, 2010. ACLU OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION