Bourgeois v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana reviewed Plaintiffs’ objections to a magistrate judge’s order concerning production of employment records in an asbestos-exposure and mesothelioma action. The court found that limiting production to an employee personnel card was clearly erroneous because the card did not contain the relevant work-location information. The court granted the motion for review, reversed the limitation to the personnel card, and ordered production of documents reflecting the employee’s work locations and other relevant information, subject to the existing protective order.

Holdings

1. A district court may reverse a magistrate judge's ruling on a nondispositive pretrial matter only when the ruling is clearly erroneous or contrary to law.
2. The magistrate judge's order was clearly erroneous to the extent it limited production to the personnel card because the personnel card did not contain the work-location information the magistrate judge had determined was relevant.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the magistrate judge's limitation of discovery to relevant portions of Joseph Bourgeois's personnel card was clearly erroneous when the personnel card did not contain the work-location information the magistrate judge had found relevant.
2. Whether the district court should modify the magistrate judge's discovery order to require production of documents reflecting Joseph Bourgeois's work locations and other responsive information identified as relevant, subject to the existing protective order.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded