Boston Retirement System v. Uber Technologies, Inc.

Background

The parties submitted a joint discovery letter concerning 16 proposed depositions of high-level Uber executives, directors, and other witnesses. The defendants asked the court to stay, or pause, all 16 depositions. The lead plaintiff cross-moved to compel, or require, the depositions.

The court requested additional information about each potential witness. The parties then submitted an 80-page chart describing the proposed witnesses, their titles, the lead plaintiff’s claimed basis for each witness’s unique firsthand knowledge, the other discovery pursued, and the defendants’ reasons for opposing or limiting the depositions.

Legal standard

The court explained that depositions of high-level corporate officers—sometimes called “apex” depositions—can create a risk of harassment or unnecessary burden. A party seeking to prevent such a deposition must show good cause. The court balanced that concern against the broad discovery permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Relevant considerations included whether a witness had firsthand knowledge of important facts, whether similar information could be obtained from other witnesses or less intrusive discovery, the witness’s role and level of seniority at Uber, and the witness’s involvement in matters relevant to the claims.

Ruling on the depositions

The court denied the defendants’ request to stay the depositions and granted in part the lead plaintiff’s request. The court found that the lead plaintiff had justified all 16 depositions, subject to these time limits:

- Dara Khosrowshahi: up to 7 hours. - Nelson Chai: up to 7 hours. - Gus Fuldner, Jill Hazelbaker, and Andrew Macdonald: the lead plaintiff could select two witnesses for depositions of up to 7 hours each, or depose all three for no more than 5 hours each. - Ronald Sugar: no more than 5 hours. - John Thain: no more than 5 hours. - Travis Kalanick: no more than 3 hours. - Garrett Camp: no more than 2.5 hours. - Ryan Graves: no more than 2.5 hours. - Arianna Huffington: no more than 2.5 hours. - David Trujillo: no more than 2.5 hours. - Ursula Burns: no more than 2 hours. - Matt Cohler: no more than 2 hours. - Wan Ling Martello: no more than 2 hours. - Yasir Al-Rumayyan: no more than 2 hours.

The depositions were required to take place by December 20, 2023. The order stated that it did not extend the then-current discovery deadline of September 20, 2023.

Sealing requests

The lead plaintiff also filed two related administrative motions concerning confidential material. In the first, the lead plaintiff sought to seal excerpts from documents cited in the discovery letter. The court granted in part and denied in part that motion and directed the lead plaintiff to re-file a version of the discovery letter using the redactions proposed by the defendants.

In the second, the lead plaintiff sought to seal the entire summary chart. The defendants identified only specific portions involving business strategy and corporate decision-making, confidential marketing strategy, and regulatory strategy and passenger-safety information. The court granted in part and denied in part that motion and directed the lead plaintiff to re-file a redacted version of the chart. Both re-filings were due September 26, 2023.

Disposition

Chief Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu ruled on the parties’ discovery letter without a hearing. The defendants’ request to stay the depositions was denied, the lead plaintiff’s request to conduct the depositions was granted in part, and both sealing motions were granted in part and denied in part.