Opinion ID: 1446551
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Privacy Limitations on the Scope of a Mental Examination

Text: If we find, as we do, that an examination may be ordered, plaintiff urges us to circumscribe its scope to exclude any probing into her sexual history, habits, or practices. Such probing, she asserts, would intrude impermissibly into her protected sphere of privacy. Furthermore, it would tend to contravene the state's strong interest in eradicating sexual harassment by means of private suits for damages. An examination into a plaintiff's past and present sexual practices would inhibit the bringing of meritorious sexual harassment actions by compelling the plaintiff  whose privacy has already been invaded by the harassment  to suffer another intrusion into her private life. (5) A right to privacy was recognized in the seminal case of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) 381 U.S. 479 [14 L.Ed.2d 510, 85 S.Ct. 1678]. It protects both the marital relationship ( ibid. ) and the sexual lives of the unmarried ( Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) 405 U.S. 438 [31 L.Ed.2d 349, 92 S.Ct. 1029]). More significantly, California accords privacy the constitutional status of an inalienable right, on a par with defending life and possessing property. (Cal. Const., art. I, § 1; White v. Davis (1975) 13 Cal.3d 757 [120 Cal. Rptr. 94, 533 P.2d 222].) California's privacy protection similarly embraces sexual relations. (See Fults v. Superior Court (1979) 88 Cal. App.3d 899 [152 Cal. Rptr. 210]; Morales v. Superior Court (1979) 99 Cal. App.3d 283 [160 Cal. Rptr. 194].) Defendants acknowledge plaintiff's right to privacy in abstracto but maintain she has waived it for purposes of the present suit. In addition, they urge us to take heed of their right to a fair trial, which they claim depends on a meaningful examination of plaintiff. Defendants contend they would not have requested a mental examination if plaintiff had simply brought a sexual harassment suit; but because she claims emotional and mental damage, they should be entitled to present expert testimony on the extent of the injury. Preparing such testimony, they suggest, requires not simply a mental examination, but one without substantial restrictions on its scope. We cannot agree that the mere initiation of a sexual harassment suit, even with the rather extreme mental and emotional damage plaintiff claims to have suffered, functions to waive all her privacy interests, exposing her persona to the unfettered mental probing of defendants' expert. Plaintiff is not compelled, as a condition to entering the courtroom, to discard entirely her mantle of privacy. At the same time, plaintiff cannot be allowed to make her very serious allegations without affording defendants an opportunity to put their truth to the test. In Britt v. Superior Court (1978) 20 Cal.3d 844 [143 Cal.Rptr 695, 574 P.2d 766], we faced a similar conflict between discovery procedures and the parties' constitutional rights. The plaintiffs were property owners near an airport operated by the local port district. They sued the district for diminution of property values, personal injuries, and emotional disturbance brought about by the airport's activities. The defendant sought to discover the plaintiffs' entire medical history, including all illnesses, injuries, and mental or emotional disturbances for which they had sought treatment at any time in their lives. Furthermore, it asked for information regarding their membership in various community organizations. Responding to the assertion that the plaintiffs had waived their right to privacy by bringing suit, we stated that while the filing of a lawsuit may implicitly bring about a partial waiver of one's constitutional right of associational privacy, the scope of such `waiver' must be narrowly rather than expansively construed, so that plaintiffs will not be unduly deterred from instituting lawsuits by the fear of exposure of their private associational affiliations and activities. ( Id. at p. 859.) Therefore, we noted, an implicit waiver of a party's constitutional rights encompasses only discovery directly relevant to the plaintiff's claim and essential to the fair resolution of the lawsuit. ( Id. at p. 859; see also In re Lifschutz (1970) 2 Cal.3d 415, 431 [85 Cal. Rptr. 829, 467 P.2d 557, 44 A.L.R.3d 1].) (6) Plaintiff's present mental and emotional condition is directly relevant to her claim and essential to a fair resolution of her suit; she has waived her right to privacy in this respect by alleging continuing mental ailments. But she has not, merely by initiating this suit for sexual harassment and emotional distress, implicitly waived her right to privacy in respect to her sexual history and practices. Defendants fail to explain why probing into this area is directly relevant to her claim and essential to its fair resolution. Plaintiff does not contend the alleged acts were detrimental to her present sexuality. Her sexual history is even less relevant to her claim. We conclude that she has not waived her right to sexual privacy. But even though plaintiff retains certain unwaived privacy rights, these rights are not necessarily absolute. On occasion her privacy interests may have to give way to her opponent's right to a fair trial. (7) Thus courts must balance the right of civil litigants to discover relevant facts against the privacy interests of persons subject to discovery. ( Valley Bank of Nevada v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 652, 657 [125 Cal. Rptr. 553, 542 P.2d 977].) Before proceeding, we note the Legislature recently enacted a measure designed to protect the privacy of plaintiffs in cases such as these. (8) Section 2036.1 (operative until July 1, 1987; presently, substantially the same provision is contained in § 2017, subd. (d)), provides that in a civil suit alleging conduct that constitutes sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual battery, any party seeking discovery concerning the plaintiff's sexual conduct with individuals other than the alleged perpetrator must establish specific facts showing good cause for that discovery, and that the inquiry is relevant to the subject matter and reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. [7] (See also Priest v. Rotary (N.D.Cal. 1983) 98 F.R.D. 755.) We must determine whether the general balancing of interests embodied in this new legislation has obviated the need for us to engage in an individualized balancing of privacy with discovery in the case at bar. In enacting the measure, the Legislature took pains to declare that The discovery of sexual aspects of complainant's [ sic ] lives, as well as those of their past and current friends and acquaintances, has the clear potential to discourage complaints and to annoy and harass litigants.... Without protection against it, individuals whose intimate lives are unjustifiably and offensively intruded upon might face the `Catch-22' of invoking their remedy only at the risk of enduring further intrusions into the details of their personal lives in discovery.... [¶] ... Absent extraordinary circumstances, inquiry into those areas should not be permitted, either in discovery or at trial. (Stats. 1985, ch. 1328, § 1.) [8] (9) Nowhere do defendants establish specific facts justifying inquiry into plaintiff's zone of sexual privacy or show how such discovery would be relevant. Rather they make only the most sweeping assertions regarding the need for wide latitude in the examination. Because good cause has not been shown, discovery into this area of plaintiff's life must be denied. Section 2036.1, thus amply protects plaintiff's privacy interests. We anticipate that in the majority of sexual harassment suits, a separate weighing of privacy against discovery will not be necessary. It should normally suffice for the court, in ruling on whether good cause exists for probing into the intimate life of a victim of sexual harassment, sexual battery, or sexual assault, to evaluate the showing of good cause in light of the legislative purpose in enacting this section and the plaintiff's constitutional right to privacy.