Chevron Mining Inc. v. Skanska USA Civil West Rocky Mountain District, Inc

Background

Chevron Mining Inc. and the other plaintiffs sought expedited discovery from Skanska USA Civil West Rocky Mountain District, Inc. The requested materials were transcripts of deposition and hearing testimony from an arbitration between Skanska and Tetra Tech EC, Inc., along with any related settlement. The court referred to these items collectively as the “Arbitration Materials.”

The court previously allowed Chevron to take expedited discovery and ordered Skanska to produce the Arbitration Materials by noon on September 13, 2019. Tetra Tech then filed an emergency motion asking the court to stay, or temporarily pause, enforcement of that production order.

Stay Standard

The court explained that a stay is discretionary rather than automatic. For a stay pending an interlocutory appeal, the court considers whether the applicant is likely to succeed on the merits, whether the applicant will suffer irreparable harm without a stay, whether a stay would substantially injure other interested parties, and where the public interest lies. The party requesting the stay bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify it. The court also explained that the first two factors—likelihood of success and irreparable harm—are the most important.

Court’s Analysis

The court found that Tetra Tech had not made a strong showing that it was likely to succeed. Tetra Tech argued that its confidentiality agreement with Skanska prevented disclosure of the settlement to Chevron. The court rejected that argument at this stage, explaining that an agreement between parties to keep information confidential does not by itself prevent the information from being discoverable under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when Skanska is a defendant. The court reiterated its earlier conclusion that the Arbitration Materials were relevant to Chevron’s claims and discoverable.

The court also found that Tetra Tech had not shown irreparable harm. Tetra Tech stated that producing the materials would harm its interests in the underlying arbitration and give Chevron litigation strategy, but it did not explain how that would cause irreparable injury. The court noted that the arbitration panel had contemplated that Chevron might obtain the materials through civil discovery.

Because Tetra Tech did not satisfy the first two stay factors, the court did not consider the remaining factors.

Disposition

The court denied Tetra Tech’s motion for a stay. The order left in place the direction that Skanska produce the Skanska/Tetra Tech Arbitration Materials. Judge Laurel Beeler signed the order on September 13, 2019.