Varelas et al v. Crown Equipment Corporation et al

Filing 38

ORDER signed by Judge J.P. Stadtmueller on 3/13/2018: GRANTING 28 Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel in accordance with the terms of this Order and GRANTING 32 Plaintiffs' Motion to Seal Document. See Order. (cc: all counsel) (jm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
ADAM J. VARELAS and MICHELLE
VARELAS,
Plaintiffs,

Case No. 17-CV-869-JPS-JPS

v.
CROWN EQUIPMENT
CORPORATION, ABC INSURANCE
COMPANY, CROWN LIFT TRUCKS,
DEF INSURANCE COMPANY, and
ILLINOIS NATIONAL INSURANCE
COMPANY,

ORDER

Defendants.
On January 12, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a motion to compel responses to
certain of their discovery requests from Defendants Crown Equipment
Corporation and Crown Lift Trucks. (Docket #28). Defendants opposed the
motion on February 2, 2018. (Docket #31). Plaintiffs replied to that
opposition on February 16, 2018. (Docket #35).
By way of background, this is a products liability action. Plaintiff
Adam J. Varelas worked at Sam’s Club operating one of Defendants’
forklifts. Crown Equipment manufactures forklifts, and Crown Lift was the
dealer which was responsible for servicing the machine at issue. At some
point, he was using the forklift near the edge of a loading dock. Adam tried
to change directions in the forklift by “plugging,” or moving the control
joystick opposite the direction of travel, but that technique did not work.
The mechanical brake in the unit also failed. Adam and the forklift went
over the edge. The machine landed in part on his leg, which had to be

amputated below the knee. Plaintiffs allege that the accident was caused by
Defendants’ poor design, manufacture, and/or maintenance of the forklift.
Plaintiffs bring claims for negligence and strict liability against Defendants.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 sets the scope of discovery in a
civil case. It provides that
[p]arties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged
matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and
proportional to the needs of the case, considering the
importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in
controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant
information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the
discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or
expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely
benefit. Information within this scope of discovery need not be
admissible in evidence to be discoverable.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) (emphasis added). For the purpose of discovery,
relevancy is construed broadly to encompass “any matter that bears on, or
that reasonably could lead to other matter[s] that could bear on, any issue
that is or may be in the case.” Chavez v. Daimler Chrysler, 206 F.R.D. 615, 619
(S.D. Ind. 2002) (internal citations omitted). Although the burden of
demonstrating relevance is on the party seeking discovery, once relevance
has been shown, it is the objecting party’s obligation “to show why a
particular discovery request is improper.” Sandoval v. Bridge Terminal
Trans., Inc., No. 14–CV–639, 2015 WL 3650644, at *1 (E.D. Wis. June 10,
2015). Courts must also keep in mind that it is their duty to “prevent ‘fishing
expeditions' or an undirected rummaging . . . for evidence of some
unknown wrongdoing.” Cuomo v. Clearing House Ass’n, L.L.C., 557 U.S. 519,
531 (2009).

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Plaintiffs seek to compel responses to certain requests for production
of documents. (Docket #29 at 7-12). Defendants’ primary response to the
motion is that the requests are not relevant. See generally (Docket #31 at 819). They maintain that Plaintiffs have failed to identify any particular
defect in the design, manufacture, or maintenance of the forklift at issue.
Without an identified defect, Defendants believe that Plaintiffs’ requests are
an overbroad fishing expedition. Plaintiffs counter that they have identified
failures in the forklift’s electrical contactors, which control forward and
reverse movements, and its mechanical brake.
Plaintiffs’ requests, particularly when narrowed to these issues,
clearly fall within the bounds of permissible discovery. Discovery is not
about what evidence will be admissible at trial, but rather about exploring
sources of factual material which may lead to such evidence. Rule 26 limits
discovery to the scope of the pleadings. As it stands, Plaintiffs’ Complaint
alleges that Defendants’ forklift was defective in its design, manufacture,
and/or maintenance, and that these defects led to Adam’s injury. They are
therefore entitled to obtain discovery related to these allegations. If
Defendants believe that the claims are too expansive or are otherwise
deficient, they should have sought dismissal via motions to dismiss or for
summary judgment. The time to do so has passed and no such motions
were filed.
Defendants’ warped view of discovery puts the cart before the horse,
asking Plaintiffs to provide some factual support for their allegations prior
to turning over the very material which may contain that evidence.
Defendants repeatedly assert that Plaintiffs have “the information they
need to identify the conduct, repair, or maintenance they claim Crown
performed negligently.” See, e.g., (Docket #31 at 9). Defendants are not
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empowered to decide what information Plaintiffs need or are entitled to. If
they were, any attempt to litigate a civil case beyond the pleadings stage
would be a fool’s errand. Plaintiffs are not engaged in “undirected
rummaging,” but simply present broad claims which require broad
discovery to explore.1
Defendants’ related concern is that Plaintiffs’ discovery requests are
not proportional to the needs of the case, or in other words impose an
undue burden on Defendants. The Court is, at this stage, unmoved by this
argument. To stand on such an objection, Defendants must show that “the
burden of compliance . . . would exceed the benefit of production of the
material sought[.]” Nw. Mem. Hosp. v. Ashcroft, 362 F.3d 923, 927 (7th Cir.
2004). Defendants offer no evidence on this point. Instead, the Court is
presented with the bald assertions of burden in Defendants’ brief. This is
not to say that Defendants’ contention is entirely meritless, but only that it
lacks support at this juncture.
With these objections stripped away, there is little substance left to
Defendants’ opposition to the motion. The Court believes that the parties
can cooperate to resolve any remaining issues regarding discovery
compliance. Indeed, some of the issues may be moot as of the date of this
Order. See, e.g., (Docket #35 at 9, 12). The parties’ collaboration should
include a limitation on the burden of production to the extent possible,
whether through narrowing the scope of the subject discovery requests or
by accommodating a more streamlined manner of production. The Court
sees no reason why good lawyers, working together, cannot accomplish

Of course, more expansive claims may be more difficult to prove at trial,
but that is of no concern to the Court in applying Rule 26.
1

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this.2 The Court will therefore grant Plaintiffs’ motion as to the general
issues discussed herein. If a further ruling is required on the minutiae of
particular discovery requests, the parties may seek the Court’s
intervention.3
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ motion to compel (Docket #28) be
and the same is hereby GRANTED in accordance with the terms of this
Order; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ motion to seal (Docket
#32) be and the same is hereby GRANTED.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 13th day of March, 2018.
BY THE COURT:

____________________________________
J. P. Stadtmueller
U.S. District Judge

Unfortunately, much of the parties’ briefing devolves into mud-slinging
and arguments on the merits of the case. The Court has duly ignored this irrelevant
material. The Court expects that the parties will not include such wasteful
argument in any future filings in this branch of the Court.
2

The Court will also grant Plaintiffs’ motion to seal their interim settlement
report. (Docket #32).
3

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