Johnson v. Nissan North America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 26 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. M2003-01165-COA-R10-CV.,M2003-01165-COA-R10-CV.
• Citation: 146 S.W.3d 600
• Parties: Clifford Michael JOHNSON v. NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

146 S.W.3d 600

Clifford Michael JOHNSON v. NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.

No. M2003-01165-COA-R10-CV.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section, at Nashville.

February 20, 2004 Session.

July 26, 2004.

Published Pursuant to Court of Appeals Rule 11.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Rutherford County, No. 47732, J.S. Steve Daniel, J Larry G. Trail and Van A. French, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Nissan North America, Inc.

Joy L. Davis, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellee, Clifford Michael Johnson.

OPINION

FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM C. KOCH, P.J., M.S., and WILLIAM B. CAIN, J., joined.

Former employee of Nissan North America, Inc. filed this action against Nissan alleging retaliatory discharge following his filing of a workers' compensation claim. A discovery dispute ensued wherein Nissan objected claiming the requests were not relevant and that it would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act if it provided the discovery. The trial court modified the discovery and ordered Nissan to: 1) list every employee terminated between August 2000 and January 2002 and the reason for the termination; 2) identify which of these employees filed workers' compensation claims or received workers' compensation benefits within one year preceding their respective termination; and 3) identify each employee that Nissan or its agents either conducted surveillance on or requested that surveillance be conducted on between August 2000 and January 2002. We reverse, finding that the plaintiff failed to make a compelling showing of relevance and failed to establish that the value of the discovery sought, which pertained to information contained in the personnel and medical records of current and former employees of Nissan, outweighed the privacy interests of those individuals who were not parties to this action.

This is a Tenn. R.App. P. 10 extraordinary appeal which arises from a dispute concerning the scope of discovery. Clifford Michael Johnson (Johnson), a former employee of Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan), filed a complaint for retaliatory discharge against Nissan alleging that he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim. Johnson submitted interrogatories to which Nissan objected to four.¹ Johnson filed a motion to compel discovery. After a hearing, the trial judge ruled that Nissan did not have to answer interrogatory 9, modified interrogatories 6 and 8, reduced the time frame by changing the dates of "January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2003" to "August 2000 and January 2002," but otherwise ruled that interrogatories 6, 7, and 8 must be answered as modified. Specifically, the trial judge ordered Nissan to:

1) list every employee terminated between August 2000 and January 2002 and the reason for the termination;

2) identify which of these employees filed workers' compensation claims or received workers' compensation benefits within one year preceding their respective termination; and

3) identify each employee that employer or its agents either conducted surveillance on or requested that surveillance be conducted on between August 2000 and January 2002.

Nissan raised two principal objections. First, Nissan argues that the requests are not relevant to Johnson's claim of retaliatory termination, relying on Tenn. R. Civ. P. 26 which only authorizes discovery that is "relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action." Johnson's claim, Nissan asserts, is individual in nature and not on behalf of any purported class, not a claim that he was treated differently than other Nissan employees in a similar situation, or that the company's rules or procedures had a "disproportionately adverse effect" on other employees who filed a workers' compensation claim. Nissan submits that the issue in this case is whether Johnson was terminated for violating work restrictions or whether the reasons given were simply pretextual. As such, Nissan contends its reasons for termination of other employees or whether surveillance was conducted are irrelevant to Johnson's claim. Nissan relies on Steinkerchner v. Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co., No. 01A01-9910-CH-00039, 1999 WL 734545 (Tenn.Ct.App. Sep. 22, 1999) wherein this court held that if the discovery request is broad and based upon the belief that it will lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, the justification for the broad discovery must be more than mere accusations and suspicion. Thus, Nissan argues that mere speculative and conclusory allegations that it targeted other employees for termination who filed workers' compensation claims does not justify the broad discovery it is compelled to provide.

Second, Nissan objected arguing that it would be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) if it provides the discovery, which may subject Nissan to lawsuits by current and former employees whose information concerning medical benefits or workers' compensation claims is released for such information is confidential and Nissan, as an employer, has a duty to keep it confidential. While there are exceptions to the confidentiality requirements, Nissan insists the discovery at issue does not qualify as an exception.

Johnson countered arguing that Steinkerchner is distinguishable. Johnson asserts that his allegations of bad faith are not speculative as they were in Steinkerchner because Chancellor Corlew, when ruling on a motion in Johnson's underlying workers' compensation case, held that Nissan acted in bad faith when dealing with Johnson.² Thus, Johnson argues that he should be given more latitude with respect to discovery. Moreover, Johnson asserts that to effectively prepare his case he must be able to discover how Nissan's policy has been applied to other employees, the type of employee targeted, Nissan's motivation for termination, and the number of employees terminated for cause as opposed to other terminations.

Standard of Review

Discovery disputes address themselves to a trial court's discretion, Benton v. Snyder, 825 S.W.2d 409, 416 (Tenn.1992); Payne v. Ramsey, 591 S.W.2d 434, 436 (Tenn.1979); Harrison v. Greeneville Ready-Mix, Inc., 220 Tenn. 293, 302-03, 417 S.W.2d 48, 52 (Tenn.1967). Accordingly, we use the "abuse of discretion" standard of review.

While the "abuse of discretion" standard limits the scope of our review of discretionary decisions, it does not immunize these decisions completely from appellate review. Duncan v. Duncan, 789 S.W.2d 557, 561 (Tenn.Ct.App.1990). Even though it prevents us from second-guessing the trial court, White v. Vanderbilt Univ., 21 S.W.3d 215, 223 (Tenn. Ct.App.1999), or from substituting our discretion for the trial court's discretion, Myint v. Allstate Ins. Co., 970 S.W.2d 920, 927 (Tenn.1998); State ex rel. Vaughn v. Kaatrude, 21 S.W.3d 244, 248 (Tenn.Ct.App.2000), it does not prevent us from examining the trial court's decision to determine whether it has taken the applicable law and the relevant facts into account. Ballard v. Herzke, 924 S.W.2d 652, 661 (Tenn.1996). We will not hesitate to conclude that a trial court "abused its discretion" when the court has applied an incorrect legal standard, has reached a decision that is illogical, has based its decision on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence, or has employed reasoning that causes an injustice to the complaining party. Clinard v. Blackwood, 46 S.W.3d 177, 182 (Tenn.2001); Buckner v. Hassell, 44 S.W.3d 78, 83 (Tenn.Ct.App.2000); In re Paul's Bonding Co., 62 S.W.3d 187, 194 (Tenn.Crim.App.2001); Overstreet v. Shoney's, Inc., 4 S.W.3d 694, 709 (Tenn. Ct.App.1999).

Boyd v. Comdata Network, Inc. 88 S.W.3d 203, 211-212 (Tenn.Ct.App.2002).

We review the trial court's underlying factual findings using the preponderance of the evidence standard in Tenn. R.App. P. 13(d); however, we review the trial court's legal determinations de novo without a presumption of correctness. Brown v. Birman Managed Care, Inc., 42 S.W.3d 62, 66 (Tenn.2001); Burlew v. Burlew, 40 S.W.3d 465, 470 (Tenn.2001). A trial court "abuses its discretion" when it makes an error of law. Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 100, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 2047, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996).

Analysis

Discovery rules are accorded broad and liberal treatment, for mutual knowledge of all the relevant facts gathered by both parties is essential to proper litigation, Hickman v. Taylor 329 U.S. 495, 507, 67 S.Ct. 385, 392, 91 L.Ed. 451 (U.S.1947); however, though the scope of discovery is broad, it does have limits. Miller v. Doctor's General Hospital, 76 F.R.D. 136, 139 (W.D.Okl.1977). "The basic positive touchstone is relevance, including the reasonable possibility that the information sought would lead to admissible evidence." Id. at 139. The Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure strike a balance between two important policies.

The first, and perhaps more important, policy is that discovery should enable the parties and the courts to seek the truth so that disputes will be decided by facts rather than by legal maneuvering. The second policy is that the discovery rules should not permit less diligent lawyers to benefit from the work of their more diligent opponents. (citations omitted).

White v. Vanderbilt University, 21 S.W.3d 215, 223 (Tenn.Ct.App.1999).

Analyzing whether a discovery request is proper requires the balancing of numerous considerations. "There is no sharp line of demarcation which separates the field in which discovery may be freely pursued from that in which it is forbidden." Cyc. Fed Proc. § 25.34 3rd Ed. (2001). These considerations include, "relevancy or reasonable possibility of information leading to discovery of admissible evidence; privilege; protection of privacy, property and secret matters; and protection of parties or persons from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense." Id. at § 25.34.

A typical analysis involves whether the...