Paz-Villagomez v. The Step 2 Company, LLC
- Susan Illston
- 3:20-cv-00606
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Paz-Villagomez v. The Step2 Company, LLC, Judge Illston partly granted the request to compel a therapist’s testimony but protected family members’ communications.
Alexis Paz-Villagomez, Christina Lansdown, and The Step2 Company, LLC. Lansdown must testify about information obtained from Paz-Villagomez but need not disclose communications from his family members.
What happened
In Paz-Villagomez v. The Step2 Company, LLC, the defendant asked the court to require Christina Lansdown, a therapist who provided family counseling, to answer deposition questions.
Lansdown had refused to answer questions about communications with Alexis Paz-Villagomez and his family, citing therapist-patient confidentiality. The defendant argued that an exception applied because Paz-Villagomez had placed his mental and emotional condition at issue. Paz-Villagomez agreed that his own mental condition was at issue but argued that communications from his family should remain confidential.
The court granted the defendant’s request in part. Judge Susan Illston ordered Lansdown to testify about her communications with, and diagnoses of, Paz-Villagomez, including what he told her, but ruled that she did not have to disclose communications from his family members.
The detailed version
- Paz-Villagomez v. The Step 2 Company, LLC · No. 3:20-cv-00606
- Susan Illston
- Apr. 23, 2021
Background
The defendant filed an expedited request to compel deposition testimony from Christina Lansdown, LMFT, who provided family counseling to Alexis Paz-Villagomez and his family. During her deposition, Lansdown declined to answer questions about her communications with Paz-Villagomez and his family, asserting the psychotherapist-patient privilege.
The defendant argued that the patient-litigant exception to that privilege required Lansdown to disclose the communications because Paz-Villagomez had placed his mental state and emotional condition at issue. Paz-Villagomez agreed that he had placed his own mental condition at issue, but argued that communications involving his family were not at issue and should not be disclosed.
Court’s ruling
The court granted the defendant’s ex parte application in part. The court found that the parties agreed Paz-Villagomez had placed his mental condition at issue. Judge Susan Illston ordered Lansdown to provide deposition testimony about her communications with Paz-Villagomez and her diagnoses of him. The testimony may include what Lansdown learned from Paz-Villagomez, including what he said.
The court also limited the compelled testimony. Lansdown was not required to disclose communications from Paz-Villagomez’s family members. The court stated that additional time for fact discovery could be provided if needed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.