Opinion ID: 770039
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Protective Relief

Text: 14 Schoffstall first appeals the district court's denial of her motion for protective relief. She argues that the district court erred because the USPS's discovery request was made merely to annoy, embarrass and harass her; her medical records would not be kept confidential; and the request sought privileged information. 15 We review the district court's discovery decisions for an abuse of discretion. See Williams v. Mensey, 785 F.2d 631, 636 (8th Cir. 1986); Sylla-Sawdon v. Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co., 47 F.3d 277, 280 (8th Cir. 1995). Our review is very deferential, and generally we will not interfere with the great latitude exercised by the district court in discovery matters. Sylla-Sawdon, 47 F.3d at 280. 16 Parties may discover any relevant, unprivileged information that is admissible at trial or is reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). However, the court may issue a protective order to prevent discovery where justice requires to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). 17 Schoffstall first argues that the USPS's discovery requests were intended to harass, embarrass or annoy her. We cannot agree. Schoffstall failed to present any evidence that the USPS requests were made in this vein. Further, her claims against the USPS placed her medical condition at issue, making the information sought by the USPS relevant, and absent a showing of bad faith, discoverable. 18 Schoffstall also contends that protective relief should have been ordered because the information would not be kept confidential. She alleges that Morton disclosed to her co-workers information regarding her medical record and deposition statements. The district court may in appropriate cases seal documents or deposition testimony to ensure that they will be used only for judicial purposes and will not be disseminated. See id. We are not persuaded that the district court abused its discretion by declining to seal this information and by denying protective relief. 19 Lastly, Schoffstall claims the information sought from Krumm and Wangler is protected from discovery by psychotherapist-patient privilege. The USPS counters that the information is discoverable because Schoffstall has placed her medical condition at issue. The Supreme Court has recognized the psychotherapist-patient privilege in federal question cases, see Jaffee v. Redmond, 518 U.S. 1, 15 (1996), but has not addressed whether the privilege is waived by a plaintiff who places his or her medical condition at issue. Numerous courts since Jaffee have concluded that, similar to attorney-client privilege that can be waived when the client places the attorney's representation at issue, a plaintiff waives the psychotherapist-patient privilege by placing his or her medical condition at issue. See Sarko v. Penn-Del Directory Co., 170 F.R.D. 127, 130 (E.D. Pa. 1997); Vann v. Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc., 967 F. Supp. 346, 349-50 (C.D. Ill. 1997); EEOC v. Danka Indus., Inc., 990 F. Supp. 1138, 1142 (E.D. Mo. 1997); Jackson v. Chubb Corp., 193 F.R.D. 216, 225 (D. N.J. 2000); but see Vanderbilt v. Town of Chilmark, 174 F.R.D. 225, 225-30 (D. Mass. 1997) (declining to find waiver where plaintiff sought emotional distress damages). Finding these cases persuasive, we agree that by placing her medical condition at issue, Schoffstall waived the psychotherapist-patient privilege.