T.S. v. Boy Scouts of America

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court considered whether a trial court abused its discretion by ordering the Boy Scouts of America to produce its Ineligible Volunteer Files in a sexual-abuse negligence action. The court held that the trial court was not required to apply the Snedigar balancing test for a qualified First Amendment associational privilege when evaluating asserted third-party privacy interests under article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution. The court affirmed the discovery order, which required redaction of identifying information and protective limitations on access.

Holdings

1. The trial court was not required to apply the Snedigar balancing test, which governs a party's qualified First Amendment associational privilege, when the Boy Scouts asserted the constitutional privacy rights of third parties named in the files.
2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Boy Scouts' requested protective order because it did not apply the wrong legal standard and imposed protective measures concerning the files.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion under CR 26(c) by failing to apply the Snedigar balancing test to the Boy Scouts' assertion that disclosure of the Ineligible Volunteer Files would violate third parties' constitutional privacy rights.
2. Whether the privacy interests asserted under article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution constitute a privilege under CR 26(b)(1) requiring application of the Snedigar qualified First Amendment associational-privilege test.

Disposition

affirmed