Perez v. Mueller et al

Filing 112

ORDER signed by Judge Pamela Pepper for Judge Rudolph T. Randa on 7/27/2016. 100 Plaintiff's MOTION to Clarify May 27, 2016 Decision and Order GRANTED. Secretary may comply with the Court's Order by providing sufficient information to ascertain validity of asserted privileges via Secretary's Second Revised Privilege Log. (cc: all counsel)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
THOMAS PEREZ, Secretary of the
United States Department of Labor,
Plaintiff,
-vs-

Case No. 13-C-1302

VERONICA MUELLER, et al.,
Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on the Secretary’s motion [ECF
No. 100] to clarify the Court’s May 27, 2016 Decision and Order [ECF No.
95] granting the defendants’ motion to compel. The Secretary was and is
resisting discovery through the assertion of various privileges, including
attorney-client, work product, and government/executive (deliberative
process and investigative file).
The defendants asked the Court to “grant their Motion to Compel
and order the Secretary to produce the withheld and redacted discovery or
provide sufficient information to ascertain the validity of the asserted
privileges.” ECF No. 75 (emphasis added). The Court granted this motion
because the Secretary’s invocation of privilege was improper. ECF No. 95,
at 3 (“The[] assertions of privilege [in the privilege log] make it impossible

to evaluate the claims of privilege because there is no way of knowing how
many emails are included within those pages, much less the nature of each
separate communication”).
The Secretary now asks the Court to allow him to comply with the
Order by “providing Defendants sufficient information to ascertain the
validity of the asserted privileges via the Secretary’s Second Revised
Privilege Log.” ECF No. 101, at 3. The Court will grant the Secretary’s
request. This is a reasonable compromise that will allow the Secretary to
avoid waiving the asserted privileges.
The Secretary’s motion to clarify [ECF No. 100] is GRANTED. The
Secretary may comply with the Court’s May 27, 2016 Order by providing
sufficient information to ascertain the validity of the asserted privileges via
the Secretary’s Second Revised Privilege Log.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 27th day of July, 2016.
SO ORDERED:
s/ Pamela Pepper
for HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA
U.S. District Judge

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