Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-05756/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-05756-22/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Employment Discrimination

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAMUEL B JOHNSON III,

Plaintiff(s),

v.

CHEVRON CORPORATION, ET AL.,

Defendant(s).

___________________________________/

Case No. C-07-05756 SI (JCS)

ORDER DENYING IN PART

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO QUASH

[DOCKET #128] 

The court has received a letter dated August 26, 2008 from plaintiff. The court has

also received opposition and numerous reply letters. The court treats the August 26, 2008 letter as a

motion to quash, and finds that it is suitable for decision without oral argument.

The motion to quash seeks to quash four subpoenas:

1. California Health and Welfare Agency Department of Social Services (the

“Department of Social Services” subpoena);

2. Lorin Frank Ph.D. (The “Frank” subpoena);

3. Employment related records from the office of the Attorney General (the “AG”

subpoena); and

4. Kaiser Hospital psychological records (the “Kaiser” subpoena).

The court finds that notice of all of the subpoenas was timely. Plaintiff has also dropped his

objections to the Kaiser and AG subpoenas. Accordingly, the motion to quash those subpoenas is

denied and the documents are ordered produced as sought.

Case 3:07-cv-05756-SI Document 145 Filed 09/18/08 Page 1 of 2
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The records sought from the Department of Social Services and Dr. Frank concerned the

social, educational, developmental and health issues related to plaintiff’s two minor children. 

Plaintiff has put the development and condition of his children at issue by claiming they were

damaged by Chevron’s conduct. In particular, plaintiff has sought many millions of dollars as a

result of their education losses, their developmental losses, their future development losses, their

pain and suffering and their emotional distress. The court finds that these records are relevant to the

damages sought by the plaintiff. It is no answer, as plaintiff states, that, before his termination,

plaintiff’s children did not suffer from many of the deficits that they experienced after Johnson’s

termination. Chevron is entitled to examine whether or not these deficits were caused by the

termination or resulted from some other cause. Because plaintiff has raised these issues, the

relevance of this evidence outweighs any need for privacy that obtains under the state or federal

constitutions. Moreover, if and when these documents are produced, they shall be produced under a

confidentiality order of this court to protect those privacy interests.

 Plaintiff also objects to the subpoena addressed to the Department of Social Services on the

basis that the subpoena named the entity “California Health and Welfare Agency” rather using the

proper name of the Agency. The Department of Social Services apparently received the subpoena

because they responded to it raising an objection on the basis of HIPAA and California Welfare and

Institutions Code Section 10850. They did not object in the basis of defendants’ use of the incorrect

name. Accordingly, plaintiff’s objections on the basis of an improper name, and on the basis of

relevance are overruled.

However, defendants have not adequately responded to the objections raised by Department

of Social Services, and by plaintiff, on the basis of HIPAA and the California Welfare and

Institutions code. They shall do so within five days of the date of this letter, citing to the court

authority demonstrating that the records sought are either not covered by these statutes, or that

 disclosure of these documents may be ordered by this court notwithstanding the statutes.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 25, 2008 _______________________________

JOSEPH C. SPERO

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 3:07-cv-05756-SI Document 145 Filed 09/18/08 Page 2 of 2