Judge: Daniel M. Crowley, Case: 19STCV37944, Date: 2022-10-04 Tentative Ruling

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Case Number: 19STCV37944    Hearing Date: October 4, 2022    Dept: 28

Defendant Roseann Ray’s Motion to Quash Deposition Subpoena of Neeraj Gupta, M.D.

Having considered the moving and opposing papers, the Court rules as follows. 

BACKGROUND

On October 22, 2019, Plaintiff Marika Raven (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendant Roseann Ray (“Defendant”) for negligence.

On November 22, 2019, Defendant filed an answer.

On August 5, 2022, Defendant filed a Motion to Quash Deposition Subpoena to Neeraj Gupta, M.D. to be heard on October 4, 2022. On September 8, 2022, Plaintiff filed an opposition.

Trial is currently scheduled for December 1, 2022.

PARTY’S REQUESTS

Defendant requests the Court quash the subpoenas served on Neeraj Gupta, M.D. (“Deponent”).

Plaintiff requests the Court deny the motion.

LEGAL STANDARD

Code of Civil Procedure §1987.1: (a) If a subpoena requires the attendance of a witness or the production of books, documents, or other things before a court, or at the trial of an issue therein, or at the taking of a deposition, the court, upon motion reasonably made by any person described in subdivision (b), or upon the court’s own motion after giving counsel notice and an opportunity to be heard, may make an order quashing the subpoena entirely, modifying it, or directing compliance with it upon those terms or conditions as the court shall declare, including protective orders. In addition, the court may make any other order as may be appropriate to protect the person from unreasonable or oppressive demands, including unreasonable violations of the right of privacy of the person. (b) The following persons may make a motion pursuant to subdivision (a): (1) A party. (2) A witness. (3) A consumer described in Section 1985.3. (4) An employee described in Section 1985.6. (5) A person whose personally identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1798.79.8 of the Civil Code, is sought in connection with an underlying action involving that person’s exercise of free speech rights.

Code of Civil Procedure § 1985.3(b) outlines that a subpoena for production of personal records must be served on the consumer whose records are sought; it must be served at least five days prior to service upon the custodian of records. This subpoena must be accompanied by a notice indicating records sought, how to object, and that an attorney should be consulted, although this may be included in the Notice of Deposition served on consumer. CCP § 1985.3(e). Section (g) further clarifies: “No witness or deposition officer shall be required to produce personal records after receipt of notice that the motion [to quash] has been brought by a consumer, or after receipt of a written objection from a nonparty consumer, except upon order of the court in which the action is pending or by agreement of the parties, witnesses, and consumers affected.”

As a general rule, all unprivileged information that is relevant to the subject matter of the action is discoverable if it would itself be admissible evidence at trial or if it appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. (Code Civ. Proc. § 2017.010; Schnabel v. Superior Court. (1993) 5 Cal.4th 704, 711.) When the information sought to be discovered impacts a person’s constitutional right to privacy, limited protections come into play for that person. (Shaffer v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 993, 999.) The protections cover both a person’s personal and financial matters. (Id.) The court must balance competing rights — the right of a litigant to discover relevant facts and the right of an individual to maintain reasonable privacy — in determining whether the information is discoverable. (Id.) For discovery purposes, information is relevant if it might reasonably assist a party in evaluating the case, preparing for trial, or facilitating settlement. (Gonzalez v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1539, 1546.)

DISCUSSION

On July 7, 2022, Plaintiff issued a subpoena on Deponent for “all records (including W9) showing payment to [Deponent] for the past 5 years and records showing cases in which [Deponent] has testified for Progressive or any subsidiaries; All deposition and trial transcripts.”

Second, the Court finds the subpoena is overbroad and makes unreasonable demands upon the deponent. For example, asking the deponents to produce all deposition or trial transcripts from the past five years is a potentially costly and timely process that presents little to no probative value to Plaintiff. The crux of the most of these requests could be understood via asking questions at a deposition, without subjecting Deponent to an invasive and costly production.

Plaintiff argues that this information is necessary to determining the reliability of deponents’ report and testimony. Plaintiff cites to cases, such as People v. Rich (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1036, that found that the number of times an expert has testified for a certain side is admissible as evidence. However, this information could be obtained via deposition—there is no reason to demand such thorough production. Plaintiff’s right to bring forth potential bias does not entitle Plaintiff to unlimited discovery into Dr. Gupta’s business affairs, especially as a non-party deponent.  

A litigant's right to evidence of an expert's potential bias is not unfettered or unconditional. In Allen v. Superior Court (1984) 151 Cal.App.3d 447, a personal injury plaintiff subpoenaed financial records of a defense medical expert for the purpose of determining how much defense work the expert performed. The defendant moved for a protective order and his motion was denied. In directing that a protective order be issued, the Court of Appeal stated: “‘A constitutional amendment adopted in 1974 elevated the right of privacy to an "inalienable right" expressly protected by force of a constitutional mandate. [Citation.] When the interest of a private litigant in discovering relevant facts conflicts with the right of others to maintain reasonable privacy regarding their financial affairs, a court must "indulge in a careful balancing" before ordering disclosure. [Citation.] It follows that a court must not generously order disclosure of the private financial affairs of nonparties without a careful scrutiny of the real needs of the litigant who seeks discovery…’” ( Id. at p. 453.)  Plaintiff has not established that the only means of obtaining the requested information is via the instant subpoena, which the Court finds invasive of Dr. Gupta’s right to privacy.  In fact, Dr. Gupta’s deposition testimony establishes the facts Plaintiff needs to impeach Dr. Gupta – he makes millions testifying only for the defense.  Plaintiff needs nothing more.   

Plaintiff also argues that Defendant does not represent the deponents, and therefore has no standing to bring about a motion to quash. This is untrue; under CCP 1987.1(b)(1), a party may bring a motion to quash a subpoena regardless of whether it represents the deponent.

Based on the above, the Court grants the motion to quash.

CONCLUSION

Defendant Roseann Ray’s Motion to Quash Deposition Subpoena of Neeraj Gupta, M.D. is GRANTED. The subpoena is quashed.

            Moving party is ordered to give notice of this ruling.

Moving Party is ordered to file the proof of service of this ruling with the Court within five days.

The parties are directed to the header of this tentative ruling for further instructions.