Court Opinion

ID: 9796865
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:07:08.126851+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:50:52.201698
License: Public Domain

KENNARD, J., Concurring and Dissenting.
This case involves a discovery dispute that arose in the early stages of a lawsuit that a wife, Bridget B., brought against her husband, John B. In her complaint, Bridget alleged, among other things, that John negligently infected her with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when they had unprotected sexual relations. To obtain the evidence necessary to prove her allegation, Bridget sought to discover various facts about John’s sexual contacts with others, both before and during the marriage. John resisted the discovery, arguing that the information Bridget sought was irrelevant and that the proposed discovery violated his right of privacy under the California Constitution.
The majority concludes that the tort of negligent transmission of HIV will lie when “the actor knows or has reason to know he or she is HIV positive.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1191.) In their dissenting opinions Justices Werdegar and Moreno would limit liability to those who engage in sexual relations with actual knowledge of their HIV infection. (Dis. opn. of Werdegar, J., post, at p. 1210; dis. opn. of Moreno, J., post, at p. 1212.) Unlike the majority and the dissenters, I see no need to decide the level of knowledge necessary to trigger the tort duty.
I would simply apply normal discovery principles, under which Bridget is entitled to discover any unprivileged information that might reasonably assist her in evaluating her case, preparing it for trial, or facilitating a settlement. Applying that standard, the Court of Appeal properly permitted Bridget to discover information about John’s sexual contacts (although not the identities of John’s sexual partners) both before and during their marriage. Allowing this discovery does not violate John’s constitutional privacy right, not only because he and Bridget are married, but also because John has put his own sexual conduct at issue by alleging that it was Bridget who infected him with HIV. Because Bridget would be entitled to discover this information under either the majority’s “reason to know” standard of liability or Justice Moreno’s “actual knowledge” standard, I take no position here on which of these two knowledge standards is appropriate for the tort of negligent *1204transmission of HIV. Under either standard the scope of discovery is the same, because evidence that John should have known that he was HIV positive is not only relevant to questions of negligence but also is circumstantial evidence that John actually knew he was HIV positive. Finally, I question the soundness of the majority’s newly fashioned rule that all discovery implicating the constitutional right of sexual privacy must be supported by a showing of “practical necessity” for the information sought.
Insofar as the majority decision affirms the judgment of the Court of Appeal, I concur. I dissent, however, from the majority’s imposition of temporal limits on the discovery of certain information that Bridget has sought.
I.
Bridget and John began dating in 1998. John represented himself as a healthy, heterosexual man with old-fashioned values, and the couple became engaged on New Year’s Eve 1999. In May 2000, the couple began living together until Bridget could find separate housing. That month or the next, Bridget received a telephone call, purportedly from the office of John’s physician, saying that John had tested negative for HIV.
When the couple first became intimate they used condoms, but eventually John persuaded Bridget to switch to birth control pills. They were married in late July 2000, and ceased having sexual relations after their honeymoon. An HIV test of John done in connection with a life insurance application on August 17, 2000, was negative.
In September 2000, Bridget consulted John’s physician about her exhaustion and high fevers. Testing revealed that she was HIV positive. When John also tested positive for HIV, the physician informed Bridget that she had brought “HIV into the marriage.” John repeated that allegation a year later, shortly before he was diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In November 2001, Bridget was told that the likelihood she had infected John was .03 percent. The next month, John for the first time revealed to Bridget that before their marriage he had had sexual relations with men; Bridget later learned that John continued to do so after their marriage.
In April 2002, Bridget sued John. Her complaint alleged facts she contends support causes of action for negligent as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress in that John knew or “had a reasonable belief’ he had HIV before they engaged in unprotected sex, but nevertheless he insisted that she had infected him. She also alleged that John fraudulently misrepresented *1205himself as being free of communicable sexual diseases and that she engaged in unprotected sexual relations with him in reliance on that misrepresentation. Finally, she alleged that John’s knowledge of his ongoing sexual conduct with male partners gave him a duty to warn her that unprotected sexual relations between them could expose her to sexually transmitted diseases.
Two months later, John answered the complaint; after generally denying its allegations, he specifically asserted that “[i]f either party transmitted the HIV virus to the other,” it was Bridget who had infected him. He alleged as an affirmative defense that Bridget had assumed the risk of infection by engaging in unprotected sex with him before their marriage. Finally, he alleged that any claim against him for personal injury resulting from HIV infection was barred by the one-year statute of limitations. (Code Civ. Proc., former § 340, subd. (3) [“for injury ... by the wrongful act or neglect of another . . . .”], amended by Stats. 1905, ch. 258, § 2, p. 232.)
At his deposition in January 2003, John refused to answer 124 questions about his sexual history and practices, maintaining that the information sought invaded his right to privacy under the California Constitution. In John’s briefing to the trial court, he argued that disclosing his sexual history was not “directly relevant to the issue of his knowledge” of his HIV status, asserting that only his knowledge of his health status at the time he had unprotected sex with Bridget was directly relevant. John renewed his privacy objections when Bridget later propounded certain interrogatories and requests for admissions pertaining to his sexual history. The parties’ discovery dispute was heard by a referee, who rejected John’s claims that his constitutional right of privacy barred Bridget from discovering certain information about his sexual conduct, his sexual history, and his medical records relating to sexually transmitted diseases. The referee’s report was confirmed by the trial judge, who ordered the requested discovery. John sought a writ of mandate in the Court of Appeal, arguing that the discovery ordered would infringe his statutory and constitutional rights to privacy.
The Court of Appeal struck all of the special interrogatories that sought the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of men with whom John had had sexual relations. Because Bridget did not seek review in this court of that part of the Court of Appeal’s decision, the propriety of that stricken discovery is not before us. The discovery at issue here includes only those special interrogatories, requests for admission, and medical record subpoenas ordered by the trial court, but not those that pertain to identifying John’s sexual partners and were stricken by the Court of Appeal. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 1184-1186.)
*1206II.
To determine the propriety of the discovery Bridget has sought, this court need not resolve whether, as the majority concludes, Bridget can recover in tort if John had reason to know that he was HIV positive, or only if he actually knew he was HIV positive when they had unprotected sexual relations. “ ‘Under the discovery statutes, information is discoverable if it is unprivileged and is either relevant to the subject matter of the action or reasonably calculated to reveal admissible evidence.’ ” (Schnabel v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 704, 711 [21 Cal.Rptr.2d 200, 854 P.2d 1117]; see Code Civ. Proc., § 2017.010.) “ ‘[I]n accordance with the liberal policies underlying the discovery procedures, doubts as to relevance should generally be resolved in favor of permitting discovery [citation].’ ” (Valley Bank of Nevada v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 652, 656 [125 Cal.Rptr. 553, 542 P.2d 977].) Evidence is relevant for discovery purposes “if it might reasonably assist a party in evaluating its case, preparing for trial, or facilitating a settlement.” (Glenfed Development Corp. v. Superior Court (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 1113, 1117 [62 Cal.Rptr.2d 195].) Evidence that is relevant for purposes of discovery need not be admissible; it will be relevant, and hence discoverable, if it might reasonably lead to other, admissible evidence. (TBG Ins. Services Corp. v. Superior Court (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 443, 449 [117 Cal.Rptr.2d 155].) Courts “shall limit the scope of discovery” when they determine that “the burden, expense, or intrusiveness of that discovery clearly outweighs the likelihood that the information sought will lead to the discovery of admissible evidence,” and they “may make this determination pursuant to a motion for protective order by a party or other affected person.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2017.020, subd. (a).)
To determine what discovery is relevant, courts look to the allegations of the complaint. Here, Bridget alleged causes of action for intentional as well as negligent infliction of emotional distress on the basis that John knew he was HIV positive before he engaged in unprotected sex with her. As to the cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress, Bridget further alleged John either “knew or had a reasonable belief that he had HIV.” Those factual allegations as to John’s degree of knowledge were incorporated by reference into Bridget’s causes of action for fraudulent misrepresentation and for negligent failure to disclose his HIV status. For each of the causes of action Bridget seeks to allege, evidence tending to prove John’s actual knowledge of his HIV-positive status is relevant. The definition of the elements of the tort of negligent transmission does not affect the scope of discovery, because any evidence tending to show that John should have known that he was HIV positive is also circumstantial evidence that he actually knew he was HIV positive. Because resolution of the discovery issue in this case does not turn on the elements of the tort of negligent transmission of HIV, a subject debated at length by both the majority and the dissent, I *1207would not reach the question of whether the tort requires actual knowledge or reason to know that one is HIV positive.
Under the ordinary test of relevance applicable to discovery, the majority improperly limits discovery in two ways. First, it bars discovery of John’s sexual relations for the period more than six months before he tested HIV negative on August 17, 2000. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 1200-1202.) Even assuming that Bridget will be unable to attack the relevance of that timeframe or the accuracy of the August 2000 test, John’s conduct during that earlier period might still reveal whether he regularly or habitually acted negligently with respect to the risks of contracting or transmitting HIV. Second, the majority bars Bridget from discovering information pertaining to John’s sexual conduct after he and Bridget stopped having sexual relations. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1201.) But John’s conduct during that period—in particular, whether he revealed his HIV-positive status to any sexual partners—could be highly relevant to Bridget’s claim that John intentionally concealed his disease from her.
The right of privacy accorded by our state Constitution protects John’s interest in making intimate personal decisions in the conduct of his sexual life, an interest we have described as autonomy privacy. (Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1, 35-36 [26 Cal.Rptr.2d 834, 865 P.2d 633]; see, e.g., Vinson v. Superior Court (1987) 43 Cal.3d 833, 841 [239 Cal.Rptr. 292, 740 P.2d 404] (Vinson).) The right of privacy in sexual conduct is held by the married and the unmarried alike. (Vinson, at p. 841.)
Here, the majority’s limitations on discovery are not necessary to protect John’s right to sexual privacy under article I, section 1 of the California Constitution. When a party asserts an invasion of a constitutionally protected privacy interest, courts apply a balancing test. (Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn., supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 37.) Because “[t]he diverse and somewhat amorphous character of the privacy right necessarily requires that privacy interests be specifically identified and carefully compared with competing or countervailing privacy and nonprivacy interests” (ibid..), the inquiry is made on a case-by-case basis (see Vinson, supra, 43 Cal.3d at pp. 841-842 [using a case-specific analysis]).
Here John, as husband, is in the anomalous position of arguing that his personal right to sexual privacy protects him from providing otherwise relevant discovery to his wife, Bridget. By alleging that John infected her with HTV, Bridget may be deemed to have implicitly waived her constitutional privacy right against discovery that is “directly relevant” and “essential to a fair resolution” of that claim. (Vinson, supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 842 [discussing Britt v. Superior Court (1978) 20 Cal.3d 844, 859 [143 Cal.Rptr. *1208695, 574 P.2d 766]].) John has made a similar claim in his answer to the complaint, asserting that Bridget infected him with HIV. In this factual context, I conclude that, as between themselves, John and Bridget, who at all relevant times were either planning to be married or were married, both have a vastly diminished constitutional right of personal privacy with regard to disclosure to one another of their sexual conduct with others.
The majority limits Bridget’s discovery requests, asserting that privacy protections for sexual behavior require her to establish the “practical necessity” for the information she seeks to discover from John. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1200.) Almost 40 years ago, this court applied a practical necessity standard in a decision precluding a county government from conditioning public employment or other benefits on a loyalty oath that imposed substantial burdens on the First Amendment rights of speech and association granted by our federal Constitution. (Vogel v. County of Los Angeles (1967) 68 Cal.2d 18, 21 [64 Cal.Rptr. 409, 434 P.2d 961]; see also Bagley v. Washington Township Hospital Dist. (1966) 65 Cal.2d 499, 505 [55 Cal.Rptr. 401, 421 P.2d 409] [practical necessity showing must be made by employer seeking to limit political activity by public employee].) Vogel described the government’s “heavy burden of demonstrating the practical necessity for the limitation” that a loyalty oath imposed on the rights of the affected citizens. (Vogel, at p. 21.) Thereafter two Court of Appeal decisions—Fults v. Superior Court (1979) 88 Cal.App.3d 899 [152 Cal.Rptr. 210] (Fults) and Boler v. Superior Court (1987) 201 Cal.App.3d 467 [247 Cal.Rptr. 185] (Boler)—applied the practical necessity test to civil discovery that allegedly intruded on sexual privacy.
Fults was a paternity action brought by the County of Sonoma, which sought to recoup from the child’s father public assistance provided for the child’s support. (Fults, supra, 88 Cal.App.3d at p. 901 & fn. 1.) When the defendant father sought to discover the names and addresses of all men with whom the mother had ever had sexual intercourse, the mother refused to provide that information except as temporally relevant to the date of the child’s conception. (Id. at pp. 902, 904.) After citing the practical necessity phraseology this court used in Vogel, the Court of Appeal in Fults rejected a discovery order spanning a two-year period centered on the likely date of conception. (Id. at p. 905.) It concluded that the defendant had made no showing that the discovery sought was “likely to turn up material information,” and therefore its utility did not outweigh the mother’s right to sexual privacy. (Ibid.)
The second Court of Appeal decision, Boler, involved discovery sought in a workplace sexual harassment suit. (Boler, supra, 201 Cal.App.3d at p. 469.) The plaintiff employee sought to discover the identities of all women that her employer had both “worked with and slept with.” (Id. at p. 474.) Because the *1209relevant information (complaints by coworkers who found the employer’s attentions unwelcome) could be obtained by less intrusive means, the Court of Appeal concluded that the discovery sought was not justified by practical necessity, noting that the broad discovery impermissibly invaded the privacy rights of women whose sexual relationships with the employer were consensual. (Id. at pp. 473-474.)
Some three months before the Court of Appeal decided Boler, supra, 201 Cal.App.3d 467, this court in Vinson, supra, 43 Cal.3d 833, which involved a claim of sexual harassment, addressed discovery that implicated the constitutional right of sexual privacy. Notably absent from our analysis in Vinson is any mention of the practical necessity test. Instead, this court concluded that the' plaintiff had waived her right to sexual privacy as to discovery that was “directly relevant” to her claim and “essential to its fair resolution.” (Id. at p. 842.) Referring to plaintiff’s unwaived sexual privacy rights, the opinion emphasized that courts “must balance the right of civil litigants to discover relevant facts against the privacy interests of persons subject to discovery.” (Id. at p. 842.) And this court pointed out that the sexual privacy rights of plaintiffs who bring civil actions for sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual battery are protected by a statutory requirement that discovery of their sexual history may be had only on a showing of good cause. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2017.220; Vinson, at pp. 843-844 [discussing predecessors to § 2017.220].) In light of this court’s decision in Vinson, I question the majority’s assertion here that intrusions on the constitutional right of sexual privacy may only be countenanced on a showing of practical necessity. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1200.)
Such a showing is unnecessary here. Both Bridget and John have already put their own sexual conduct at issue, and they have implicitly waived some of their rights to sexual privacy. (Vinson, supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 842.) And their remaining sexual privacy rights are “not necessarily absolute.” (Ibid.) Because each alleges that the other, rather than some third party, is the source of the infection, both must accept inquiry into their sexual conduct with partners other than their spouse as a possible source of the infection. Accordingly, unlike the majority (maj. opn., ante, at p. 1200) and Justice Werdegar (dis. opn. of Werdegar, J., post, at p. 1211), I would not require Bridget to show a practical necessity for discovery of John’s sexual conduct after July 2000, when the couple ceased to have sexual relations with one another. Even under a practical necessity test, the information Bridget seeks to discover from John is of a type that she has no ready means of obtaining, except from John. (See, e.g., Boler, supra, 201 Cal.App.3d at p. 474 [plaintiff had alternative means of obtaining discovery].)
Notwithstanding the diminished right to privacy of John and Bridget as between one another, they each retain some sexual privacy interests. I would *1210leave the protection of those privacy interests to the discretion of the trial court, which remains free to fashion protective orders or to adopt other measures tailored to the specific information and documents before it. Moreover, I stress that my conclusion that John and Bridget have a diminished privacy interest as to one another in the context of this litigation does not affect the privacy interests of other persons. Bridget’s discovery of the identities of John’s previous sexual partners was precluded by the Court of Appeal and is not an issue before us.
III.
For the reasons given above, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.