Wagoner v. Lewis Gale Medical Center, LLC

Citation. 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91323; 2016 WL 3893135 (W.D. Va. 2016)

Brief Fact Summary.

Plaintiff was fired by Defendant after approximately two months on the job, allegedly due to his dyslexia. Plaintiff sued Defendant, claiming that his termination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plaintiff sought production of all electronically stored information maintained by Plaintiff‘s former supervisors. Defendant objected, stating that the cost of retrieving and reviewing the requested information—over $45,000—would be more than Plaintiff‘s potential damages in the lawsuit. Plaintiff moved to compel the production.

Synopsis of Rule of Law.

Relevant information may be undiscoverable if the responding party can show that the information is not reasonably accessible due to undue burden or cost.

Plaintiff was a security guard for Defendant. Plaintiff was fired after approximately two months on the job. Plaintiff claimed that he had dyslexia and as a result had been unable to copy down his work schedule from the schedule posted on the wall. Plaintiff sued Defendant, claiming that his termination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plaintiff sought production of all electronically stored information maintained by Plaintiff‘s former supervisors at Defendant. Plaintiff limited the request to a four-month period, and the following specific search terms when paired with Plaintiff‘s name: dyslexia, dyslexic, read, reading, slow, ADA, disabled, disability, security, schedule, copy, and copying. Defendant objected. Defendant’s e-mail system did not keep emails for more than three days after they were sent. As a result, Defendant would need to hire a third party to retrieve and review the information. Defendant argued that the cost of retrieving and reviewing the requested information—over $45,000—would be more than Plaintiff‘s potential damages in the lawsuit. Plaintiff moved to compel the production.

Issue.

May relevant information be undiscoverable if the responding party can show that the information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost?

Held.

Yes.

Discussion.

Relevant information may be undiscoverable if the responding party can show that the information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. The primary inquiry is determining whether the information is stored in an accessible or inaccessible format. A court will not relieve a party of production merely because the party chooses to store requested information in a manner that makes it difficult to retrieve. Here, Defendant only claimed that it would be expensive to retrieve the information given Defendant’s email system. It did not claim that the requested information was in an inaccessible format. The court noted that it would not relieve Defendant of producing the requested information due solely to its decision to store its emails in a manner that made them difficult to retrieve. Defendant simply has not carried its burden to show that the information was not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. Therefore, the court granted Plaintiff’s motion to compel.