North Kingstown School Committee v. Ken Wagner

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court reviewed a Superior Court judgment concerning subpoenas issued in an administrative employment appeal involving a North Kingstown High School teacher. The court held that the school committee's attorneys could not be categorically shielded from testimony based on attorney-client privilege; instead, privilege claims had to be evaluated on a question-by-question basis. The court vacated the judgment in part, affirmed it in all other respects, and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. The Superior Court erred by broadly ruling that the school committee's attorneys could not be compelled to testify merely because other sources might already have provided the information sought. The attorneys must testify in person or by deposition, and the school committee must assert privilege on a question-by-question basis.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Superior Court improperly quashed subpoenas requiring the school committee's attorneys to testify based on an overbroad application of the attorney-client privilege.
2. Whether the attorneys' anticipated testimony had to be assessed on a question-by-question basis rather than excluded categorically because other sources of information had already been produced.

Disposition

vacated