206 F.R.D. 686 | M.D. Fla. | 2002
ORDER
Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion To Compel (Doc. 18), which previously was denied in part, granted in part, and kept pending pursuant to an Order entered by the Court on February 19, 2002 (Doc. 26). The motion was kept pending because there was insufficient evidence in the record for the Court to decide whether the self-critical analysis privilege applies to two of the disputed discovery items, i.e., Plaintiffs Requests to Produce 22 and 23, which seek management relations and employee relations index surveys for UPS’s Central Florida District. Pursuant to the Court’s February 19, 2002 Order, the parties deposed UPS’s Human Resources Manager for the Central Florida District, and thereafter filed memoranda (Docs. 27 & 28) presenting their opposing views on whether and to what extent the self-critical analysis privilege should apply to the discovery items at issue. For the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that, with respect to the sole remaining issue of the applicability of the self-critical analysis privilege to Plaintiffs Requests to Produce 22 and 23, Plaintiffs Motion To Compel (Doc. 18) is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as described below.
I. The Disputed Documents
Plaintiffs Requests to Produce 22 and 23 seek “[a]ny and all documents which in any way relate to results of management relations index surveys [and employee relations index surveys, respectively,] by UPS in the Central Florida District from January 1, 1996 through the present.” (Doc. 18 at 5.)
Based on the deposition of UPS’s Human Resources Manager, it appears that the requests to produce implicate three types of documents. First,' the surveys, which are taken annually by all UPS employees via computer, produce computer generated reports containing percentages of favorable and unfavorable answers to numerous questions regarding topics such as workplace environment, management and co-worker relations, internal communication, customer service, accountability, promotional opportunities, treatment of workers, discrimination, and race relations. (Doc. 27, Ex. A.) Second, employee comments at the end of each survey are extracted and printed out. (Doc. 27, Ex. A at 21.) Third, based on the results of the surveys, UPS management creates action plans for various work groups.
UPS characterizes the surveys as “voluntary internal self-evaluations [that] solicit subjective assessments of [UPS’s workplace].” (Doc. 27 at 5.) UPS states that “[t]he purpose of the surveys is to allow UPS to conduct a critical analysis of its workplace.” (Doc. 27 at 5.) Thus, UPS argues that the self-critical analysis privilege applies to the surveys and all results therefrom. (Doc. 27 at 3-8.) Accordingly, UPS asserts that all documents resulting from the sur
Plaintiff “concedes that the privilege should apply to any action plans created by UPS as a result of information obtained in its employee surveys.” (Doc. 28 at 2.) However, Plaintiff argues that “the individual employee comments should not fall under the self-critical analysis privilege ... [b]ecause the employee comments are not documents created by UPS management as part of its self-critical analysis or action plan.” (Doc. 28 at 3.) Instead, Plaintiff argues, “those comments are more analogous to statements by co-employees that they too have been treated in a racially disparate manner.” (Doc. 28 at 3.) Thus, Plaintiff asserts that, although the action plans are not subject to discovery, the employee comments from the surveys and (presumably) the computer generated reports containing responses to the survey questions should be discoverable.
II. Scope of Discovery
Plaintiffs Motion to Compel seeks discovery throughout UPS’s Central Florida District, which includes the Leesburg Center where Plaintiff worked, thirty-four other business centers, and seven cross-functional departments. In its February 19, 2002 Order, the Court ruled that discovery for this lawsuit should be limited to the Leesburg Center because the relevant decisions affecting Plaintiffs employment with UPS were made at the business center level, with very limited district-level involvement. (Doc. 26 at 2-5.) Thus, it should be observed from the outset that, to the extent that the Court permits discovery with respect to Plaintiffs Requests to Produce 22 and 23, such discovery will be limited to information related to the Leesburg Center.
III. The Self-Critical Analysis Privilege
The Court now turns to a discussion of the self-critical analysis privilege
A. The Origin of the Privilege
The self-critical analysis privilege was first recognized in Bredice v. Doctors Hospital, Inc.
In the context of employment discrimination, the self-critical analysis privilege was first recognized in Banks v. Lockheed-Georgia Co.
B. The Weight of Authority
Since the Banks decision, many courts have addressed the self-critical analysis privilege in the context of employment discrimination.
“Very few Circuit Courts of Appeals have directly addressed the self-critical analysis privilege.”
“In the context of employment discrimination, the majority of the case law rejects the privilege.”
In 1990, one influential district court observed that “[fjederal district courts are moving away from earlier decisions embracing the privilege, and the district courts which have most carefully considered the issue have almost unanimously concluded that the privilege should not be recognized or that it should be recognized only on a very limited basis.”
C. The University of Pennsylvania Decision
In University of Pennsylvania v. EEOC,
The Court framed the issue this way: “The University asks us to invoke [Federal Rule of Evidence 501] to fashion a new privilege that it claims is necessary to protect the integrity of the peer review process, which in turn is central to the proper functioning of many colleges and universities.”
The Court stated that although Rule 501 provides courts with flexibility to develop privileges on a case-by-case basis, “we are disinclined to exercise this authority expansively.”
While the Court did not explicitly discuss the self-critical analysis privilege per se in University of Pennsylvania, it appears that the Court implicitly rejected the privilege in the context of Title VII employment discrimination claims.
However, this argument is not consistent with the weight of authority of federal court decisions following University of Pennsylvania. In more than a decade since the Court decided University of Pennsylvania, it appears that only four district courts have recognized and applied the self-critical analysis privilege in Title VII cases.
D. The Law in the Eleventh Circuit
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has not addressed the self-critical analysis privilege in any context.
In Reid v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.,
The Reid court went on to recognize four criteria that courts have required before applying the self-critical analysis privilege, and added a fifth criterion of its own.
In contrast, in Abdallah v. Cocar-Cola Co.,
E. Conclusion
As Reid and Abdallah demonstrate, there is disagreement among judges in the Eleventh Circuit regarding whether the self-critical analysis privilege should be recognized in employment discrimination cases. However, this Court is cognizant of the conclusion reached earlier that recognition of such a privilege is a minority position following University of Pennsylvania.
In addition, this Court is concerned that the “important issue of public policy” purportedly implicated by disclosing information in the context of employment discrimination (e.g., Banks)
Furthermore, this Court is mindful of the Supreme Court’s express reluctance to create and apply evidentiary privileges,
Accordingly, until such time as the United States Supreme Court or the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recognizes the self-critical analysis privilege, this Court is disinclined to recognize the privilege, at least in the context of employment discrimination.
IV. Decision
Based on the foregoing analysis of the law, the Court concludes that the self-critical analysis privilege should not be recognized in this case. However, even assuming arguendo that the self-critical analysis privilege should be recognized as a matter of law in a case such as this, the Court finds that the privilege would not apply to two of the three types of disputed documents in this case.
Specifically, the Court finds that the computer generated reports and employee comments from UPS’s management relations and employee relations index surveys would not be protected by the self-critical analysis privilege, if recognized, because such documents essentially constitute anecdotal statements by employees, and do not disclose self-criticism by UPS or the views of UPS management. The Court notes that it previously ruled (in its February 19, 2002 Order) that Plaintiff would be permitted to interview certain current or former UPS employees, subject to certain rules and restrictions. The
With regard to the third type of disputed document, the action plans created by UPS management, the Court observes that Plaintiff has conceded that these documents should be privileged. Therefore, the Court will not require production of these documents.
Accordingly, the Court finds that, with respect to the applicability of the self-critical analysis privilege to Plaintiffs Requests to Produce 22' and 23, Plaintiffs Motion To Compel (Doc. 18) is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Defendant shall produce to Plaintiff the computer generated reports and employee comments from the management relations and employee relations index surveys that relate to UPS’s Leesburg Center, but shall not be required to produce any action plans created by UPS management from those surveys.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
. The privilege discussed herein has been given many names by the courts that have dealt with it, including: the self-critical subjective analysis privilege, the peer review privilege, the self-evaluation privilege, the privilege for confidential self-evaluative analysis, and the self-examination privilege. See Donald P. Vandegrift, Jr., The Privilege of Self-Critical Analysis: A Survey of the Law, 60 Alb.L.Rev. 171, 175 (1996). The name that seems to be the most common, however, is the self-critical analysis privilege, and that name will be used to refer to the privilege throughout this discussion.
. It should be noted that Plaintiff does not argue that the self-critical analysis privilege should not be recognized by the Court; rather, he contests only its applicability to the discovery items at issue. (Doc. 28.) However, the Court will proceed sua sponte to evaluate the threshold issue of whether the privilege should be recognized by this Court as a matter of law.
. Bredice v. Doctors Hosp., Inc., 50 F.R.D. 249 (D.D.C.1970), aff'd, 479 F.2d 920 (D.C.Cir.1973).
. See id. at 251.
. Id. at 250.
. Id.
. Id. at 251.
. Id.
. Id.
. Banks v. Lockheed-Georgia Co., 53 F.R.D. 283 (N.D.Ga.1971).
. See id. at 284.
. Id.
. Id. at 285.
. Id.
. Id.
. See id.
. Id.
. See Stephen C. Simpson, Note, The Self-Critical Analysis Privilege in Employment Law, 21 J.Corp.L. 577, 586 (1996) ("Many courts have considered the arguments in favor of applying the [self-critical analysis] privilege [in the employment discrimination context].”).
. Tharp v. Sivyer Steel Corp., 149 F.R.D. 177, 181 (S.D.Iowa 1993) (citing nine employment discrimination cases in which the court recognized the self-critical analysis privilege, thirteen such cases in which the court rejected the privilege, and three such cases in which the court ordered disclosure subject to a protective order); see also Simpson, supra note 18, at 586 ("A significant number of ... courts have found [arguments for applying the self-critical analysis privilege] persuasive enough to recognize the self-critical analysis privilege in the employment context. However, an equally significant number of courts have also rejected the privilege in such a context." (citations omitted)).
. Abdallah v. Coca-Cola Co., No. CIV A1:98CV3679RWS, 2000 WL 33249254, at *5 (N.D.Ga. Jan.25, 2000).
. See Vandegrift, supra note 1, at 180-181 (citing cases from the Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals in which the courts rejected the self-critical analysis privilege in the context of employment. discrimination; citing cases from the District of Columbia and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals in which the courts rejected the privilege in other contexts; and citing one case in which the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, without an opinion, the district court’s recognition of the privilege in the context of employment discrimination); cf. Abdallah, 2000 WL 33249254, at *5 (citing cases from four circuit courts of appeals in which the courts rejected the privilege in various contexts).
. See Martin v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., Nos. 86-0603, 87-1177, 87-2094 and 88-0106, 1990 WL 158787, at *5 (D.D.C. May 25, 1990); Vandegrift, supra note 1, at 180-181. But cf. Reid v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., 199 F.R.D. 379, 385 (N.D.Ga.2001) (citing two cases from the Sixth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals in support of the proposition that "[a] few federal appellate courts ... have suggested that the policy rationales underlying the [self-critical analysis privilege] are valid”).
. Abdallah, 2000 WL 33249254, at *6.
. Id. at *6; see also Hardy v. New York News Inc., 114 F.R.D. 633, 640-41 (S.D.N.Y.1987).
. Martin, 1990 WL 158787, at *5 (D.D.C. May 25, 1990) (citation omitted).
. University of Pennsylvania v. EEOC, 493 U.S. 182, 110 S.Ct. 577, 107 L.Ed.2d 571 (1990).
. See id. at 185, 110 S.Ct. at 580.
. See id. at 186, 110 S.Ct. at 580.
. See id. at 187, 110 S.Ct. at 581.
. Id. at 188, 110 S.Ct. at 581.
. Id. at 189, 110 S.Ct. at 582.
. Id. (quoting Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, 51, 100 S.Ct. 906, 912, 63 L.Ed.2d 186 (1980)).
. Id. (quoting Trammel, 445 U.S. at 50, 100 S.Ct. at 912, quoting United States v. Bryan, 339 U.S. 323, 331, 70 S.Ct. 724, 730, 94 L.Ed. 884 (1950)).
. Id.
. id.
. Id.
. Id. at 188, 202, 110 S.Ct. at 581, 589.
. See Simpson, supra note 18, at 591 ("[T]he Court implicitly rejected the self-critical analysis privilege because the arguments supporting it are so similar to the arguments the Court rejected [in University of Pennsylvania ].”)
. See, e.g., Reid, 199 F.R.D. at 384; Simpson, supra note 36, at 592.
. See Abdallah, 2000 WL 33249254, at *7 n. 4 (noting that as of January 2000, the court "could find only three reported federal court decisions applying the self-critical analysis privilege in a Title VII action after the Supreme Court’s holding in University of Pennsylvania and further noting that "all three of these cases were decided in New York district courts while another New York district court has recently held that the Supreme Court’s decision in University of Pennsylvania implicitly rejected the rationale for a self-critical analysis privilege”); Reid, 199 F.R.D. at 383-84 (applying the self-critical analysis privilege in a Title VII case in March of 2001).
. See Abdallah, 2000 WL 33249254, at *6.
. Id. at *7 n. 4.
. See Reid, 199 F.R.D. at 384.
. Reid v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., 199 F.R.D. 379 (N.D.Ga.2001) (Forrester, J.).
. See id. at 385. Judge Forrester declared that "[t]he [self-critical analysis privilege] has existed in this district for thirty years, and ... the undersigned has applied it in the employment discrimination context.... Accordingly, the court concludes that the [self-critical analysis privilege] may apply in Title VII cases generally as well as in this case specifically.” Id.
. Id. at 383.
. Id. at 384.
. Id.
. See id. at 386. The five criteria are: (1) the information sought must be the result of a critical self-analysis undertaken by the party seeking protection; (2) there must be a strong public interest in preserving the free flow of the type of information sought; (3) the information sought must be of the type whose flow would be curtailed if discovery were permitted; (4) the information sought must have been prepared with the expectation that it would be kept confidential; and (5) the information sought must be subjective analysis designed to have a positive societal effect. See id.
. Id. at 386-87.
. Abdallah v. Coca-Cola Co., No. CIV A1:98CV3679RWS, 2000 WL 33249254 (N.D.Ga. Jan.25, 2000) (Scofield, J.).
. Id. at *7.
. See id. at *5-7.
. Id. at *7.
. Id. (citing Univ. of Pa., 493 U.S. at 189, 110 S.Ct. at 582).
. Id.
. Id. at *8.
. See id.
. See supra note 14 and accompanying text.
. See supra notes 5-8 and accompanying text.
. See, e.g., Tharp, 149 F.R.D. at 184 ("Because disclosure of employers’ 'self-critical analysis' materials may play a crucial function in civil litigation to eradicate discrimination that exists in the work place, application of the 'self-critical analysis’ privilege in employment discrimination cases would impede the progress of that litigation and therefore contravene the public interest served by such litigation.”); Martin, 1990 WL 158787, at *4 ("To the extent that self-evaluative documents improve private plaintiffs’ ability to prove discrimination where it exists, the goal of equal employment opportunity may be significantly better served by discovery than by protection and not — as proponents of the privilege contend — the converse.”); Simpson, supra note 18, at 596-597 ("The only potentially meritorious argument in favor of the [self-critical analysis] privilege is the 'chilling effect' argument. This argument is not persuasive.... The self-critical analysis privilege should not apply in employment discrimination cases, and private litigants, such as employees, should have access to the evidence which will aid them in eradicating discrimination in the workplace.”).
. See supra notes 32 and 34 and accompanying text.
. See supra note 33 and accompanying text.
. See supra note 55 and accompanying text; see also supra notes 35-36 and accompanying text.