Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_13-cv-05983/USCOURTS-cand-3_13-cv-05983-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 42:2000 Job Discrimination (Race)

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13-cv-05983-NC

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United States District Court 

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

ALEXANDRA HERNANDEZ,

Plaintiff, 

v. 

MIDPEN HOUSING CORPORATION, 

et al., 

Defendants. 

Case No.13-cv-05983-NC 

DISCOVERY ORDER 

Dkt. No. 47 

This order addresses numerous civil discovery disputes raised in a joint letter brief. 

Dkt. No. 47. In the interest of securing the “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” 

of this action, the Court will not repeat the case history and the arguments presented by the 

parties. In sum, this is an employment dispute with eleven causes of action asserted by 

employee Hernandez against defendant employer MidPen. The fact discovery deadline is 

March 2, 2015; trial is set for October 5, 2015. 

The Court now rules on the issues presented: 

1. Extra time allowed for deposition of plaintiff Hernandez. 

Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered, a deposition is limited to 1 day of 7 hours. 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(d). More time must be allowed if needed to “fairly examine” the 

deponent. Id. Here, the parties agree that up to 14 hours total may be needed for 

Hernandez’s deposition, but disagree as to whether more than that may be needed. 

The request to extend the deposition to 14 hours is granted. MidPen’s request for 

more than 14 hours is denied for lack of good cause. If MidPen can later establish that 

even after 14 hours it could not “fairly examine” Hernandez, then it may move for further 

relief. The Court suspects that 14 hours will be sufficient. 

2. Hernandez’s earlier medical and employment records. 

Based on the claims in this case and the deposition testimony by Hernandez, Dkt. 

No. 47 at 2-3, the Court finds that she has placed at issue her physical and medical health. 

Case 3:13-cv-05983-NC Document 48 Filed 01/27/15 Page 1 of 2
13-cv-05983-NC 2 

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United States District Court 

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Accordingly, the Court finds that the medical and employment records sought are relevant. 

Hernandez’s privacy concerns are addressed in two ways. First, the Court limits the time 

period for production, to January 1, 2009, to present, rather than back to December 2004. 

Second, the records will be produced subject to a protective order that will govern their use 

and distribution. That protective order must be submitted within 7 days of this order. 

3. All emails sent to and from plaintiff during her employment. 

While the Court is persuaded that some emails to and from Hernandez during her 

employment would be relevant, the Court is not convinced that every email is relevant. 

The parties are ordered to meet and confer within the next 7 days and to submit a proposed 

methodology, such as search terms, that will reduce the scope and burden of this request. 

4. Debra Sobeck performance reviews for 2012 and 2013. 

Sobeck was Hernandez’s manager at MidPen during the relevant time period. The 

Court finds that the records requested are relevant. Sobeck’s privacy interests may be 

addressed through the same protective order that will be entered for Hernandez’s records. 

Plaintiff’s request for the Sobeck records is therefore granted. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: January 27, 2015 _____________________________________ 

NATHANAEL M. COUSINS 

United States Magistrate Judge 

Case 3:13-cv-05983-NC Document 48 Filed 01/27/15 Page 2 of 2