Wood v. Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc.

Background

The court considered letters from the parties concerning Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc.’s motion to compel deposition testimony from plaintiff Tristan Angulo. The opinion does not identify the specific questions at issue.

Analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(c)(2) permits a witness to be instructed not to answer only when necessary to preserve a privilege, enforce a limitation ordered by the court, or present a motion under Rule 30(d)(3). The court stated that none of those reasons had been articulated for the questions asked of Angulo. To the extent the plaintiffs were making a Rule 30(d)(3) motion, the court denied that motion because the required standards had not been shown. The court ordered Angulo to appear for a deposition limited to answering the disputed questions and reasonably related follow-up questions. The ruling did not prevent counsel from instructing Angulo not to answer based on privilege.

The parties also requested that the letters concerning the dispute be sealed. The court accepted that the letters were judicial documents but found that the presumption of public access was low because the matter involved a discovery dispute. The court concluded that the plaintiff’s privacy interests outweighed that presumption for this dispute. It cautioned that the sealing ruling applied only to this particular discovery dispute and did not decide whether the substance of the questions could be disclosed in other contexts.

Disposition

Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein granted the motion to compel, Docket No. 350. He also granted the motions to seal, Docket Nos. 351, 358, 360, 364, and 366.