Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company et al v. Meller Anlagenbau GMBH

Filing 40

ORDER signed by Judge Rudolph T. Randa on 9/17/2013 GRANTING 27 MOTION to Compel Statements and Incident Report. (cc: all counsel)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
NATIONWIDE AGRIBUSINESS
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff,
FRANSISCO ALCALA,
Involuntary Plaintiff,
Case No. 12-C-1227

-vsMELLER POULTRY EQUIPMENT, Inc. and
MELLER ANLAGENBAU GMBH,
Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER

On August 29, the Court issued an order regarding Meller Poultry’s motion to
compel the production of certain witness statements and an incident report, which
Nationwide claims to be protected work product. With regard to the incident report,
the Court observed that Nationwide’s “vague description of the report’s content is not
enough to meet Nationwide’s burden under the sole purpose test. . . . That said,
Nationwide insists that if there is any doubt about the nature of this report . . ., the
Court should conduct an in camera review. If Nationwide still thinks that it is entitled
to the privilege, even in light of the foregoing discussion, the Court will conduct an in
camera review at Nationwide’s request.” ECF No. 33; 2013 WL 4647983, at *3 (E.D.

Wis. Aug. 29, 2013). Nationwide accepted the Court’s invitation and filed the incident
report under seal. After reading the report, the Court is not persuaded that it was
prepared and used solely to prepare for litigation. Id. at *2. The report blames the
accident on manufacturer negligence, but it also contains a description of the accident,
which would certainly be useful in arriving at (or buttressing a tentative) claim
decision. The report mentions Nationwide’s “investigation and potential litigation
against Meller,” but this does not preclude the existence of a concurrent, non-litigation
purpose.
Meller’s motion to compel [ECF No. 27] is GRANTED.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 17th day of September, 2013.
BY THE COURT:

__________________________
HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA
U.S. District Judge

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