Patricia Noonan, individually and in her capacity as of and on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Estate of William J. Noonan v. Sundersansan Sambandam, M.D.Patricia Noonan, individually and in her capacity as of and on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Estate of William J. Noonan v. Sundersansan Sambandam, M.D.
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, at Telephone (401) 222-3258 or Email: opinionanalyst@courts.ri.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made
Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and Long, JJ.
O P I N I O N
Justice Goldberg, for the Court. This case came before the Supreme Court on May 17, 2023, pursuant to a writ of certiorari issued upon petition by the plaintiffs, Patricia Noonan, individually and in her capacity as Executrix of and on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Estate of William J. Noonan, Linda Byrne, Terri Pare, Karen LeCam, and Steven Noonan (plaintiffs). The plaintiffs seek review of an order of the Superior Court granting the motion of the defendant, Sundaresan T. Sambandam, M.D. (defendant),1 to compel production of a complete, unredacted copy of the settlement agreement between the plaintiffs and the former codefendants who settled plaintiffs’ claims. The plaintiffs assert that the trial justice abused her discretion in granting the motion because the amount paid in accordance with the settlement agreement is not discoverable pursuant to
Facts and Travel
This is a medical malpractice case arising out of treatment provided to William Noonan by defendants, Rhode Island Hospital, Barry Sharaf, M.D., Philip Stockwell,
Mr. Noonan’s wife, Patricia Noonan, was appointed to serve as the executrix of his estate. On October 12, 2016, Mrs. Noonan initiated the instant action by filing a complaint in the Superior Court. The operative complaint, the second amended complaint, sets forth thirteen counts: negligence against each defendant (counts one through six), lack of informed consent against each defendant (counts seven through twelve), and one count of loss of consortium, companionship, and society (count thirteen). Each defendant filed an answer and discovery ensued.
The plaintiffs then settled their claims with all defendants except for Dr. Sambandam; stipulations dismissing plaintiffs’ claims against the settling codefendants entered on March 26, 2020. Doctor Sambandam, the sole remaining defendant, filed a supplemental request for production of documents in which he sought a “complete copy of any and all documents and related materials regarding plaintiffs’ settlement of claims with any and all co-defendants. This includes a complete copy of any release and dismissal stipulation.” The defendant did not reference
The defendant then filed a motion to compel “the complete, unredacted [r]elease/settlement agreement regarding the settlement of [p]laintiffs’ claims with the former co-defendants.” Although defendant did not specifically reference Rule 26, he asserted that the “requested information [was] necessary to and discoverable by [him] pursuant to Rhode Island and federal law.” He argued that he “must know the amount which will be set off from any potential recovery by [p]laintiffs against [him]” pursuant to
A hearing was held on November 4, 2021, during which plaintiffs argued that “the agreement amount is irrelevant to the determination of liability and, therefore, it’s not discoverable documentation at this point.” The plaintiffs further argued that the amount provided for in the settlement agreement was “not going to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence which is the standard.” The trial justice concluded that the settlement amount was discoverable and explained that “there’s no basis whatsoever for refusing to give the settlement agreement.” The trial justice opined that plaintiffs were “confusing admissibility with discoverability. It’s very clear that it’s discoverable. It’s not admissible.” Accordingly, the trial justice granted defendant’s motion to compel. An order reflecting this decision entered thereafter, instructing plaintiffs to produce “a complete, unredacted copy of any and all settlement agreements/releases”
On December 2, 2021, defendant moved for a conditional order of dismissal due to plaintiffs’ failure to comply with the order. The plaintiffs objected and a hearing was held on December 16, 2021, after which a different justice of the Superior Court granted the motion. A conditional order of dismissal entered on December 29, 2021. This petition for a writ of certiorari followed.
Standard of Review
“It is well settled that this Court limits its review on certiorari ‘to examining the record to determine if an error of law has been committed.‘” Nickerson v. Reitsma, 853 A.2d 1202, 1205 (R.I. 2004) (quoting City of Providence v. S & J 351, Inc., 693 A.2d 665, 667 (R.I. 1997)). “We do not weigh the evidence on certiorari, but only conduct our review to examine questions of law raised in the petition.” Malachowski v. State, 877 A.2d 649, 653 (R.I. 2005) (quoting Jeff Anthony Properties v. Zoning Board of Review of North Providence, 853 A.2d 1226, 1229 (R.I. 2004)).
“[W]ith respect to determining the scope of
Analysis
The sole issue in this case is whether a nonsettling defendant may compel the disclosure of the amount of a settlement agreement reached between plaintiffs and the settling codefendants—an issue not yet addressed by this Court.2
The plaintiffs claim that the amount set forth in the settlement agreement is not discoverable pursuant to
At the outset, we pause to note that, in granting defendant’s motion to compel production of the settlement amount, the trial justice provided no reasoning as to her decision. This was error. See Fisher v. Lau, 291 A.3d 1261, 1262 (R.I. 2023) (mem.) (explaining that “[t]he trial justice’s decision [was] devoid of any meaningful analysis” and, as a result, “our examination of the record and decision [was] hampered by this vacuum“); see also State v. Gibson, 291 A.3d 525, 544 (R.I. 2023) (“In providing a rationale for a decision, however, the trial justice need not refer to all the evidence supporting the decision but need only cite evidence sufficient to allow this Court to discern whether the justice has applied the appropriate standards.“) (quoting State v. Franco, 225 A.3d 623, 631 (R.I. 2020)); Fitzpatrick v. Pare, 552 A.2d 1185, 1186 (R.I. 1989) (holding that the Court was “unable to reach the merits of the petitioner’s contentions” because the “District Court’s decision * * * [was] devoid of any supportive reasoning[,]” therefore “making intelligent appellate review impossible” and requiring remand to the District Court with direction for the trial judge to “create a record and state the factual and legal determinations supportive of his decision“). We nonetheless address plaintiffs’ claim because we are presented solely with a question of law, which we review de novo. See DeCurtis, 152 A.3d at 421.
“The provisions of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure pertaining to discovery generally are liberal, and are designed to promote broad discovery among parties during the pretrial phase of litigation.” DeCurtis, 152 A.3d at 420 (quoting Henderson v. Newport County Regional Young Men’s Christian Association, 966 A.2d 1242, 1246 (R.I. 2009)). “The philosophy underlying modern discovery is that prior to trial, all data relevant to the pending controversy should be disclosed unless the data is privileged.” Id. at 421 (quoting Cabral v. Arruda, 556 A.2d 47, 48 (R.I. 1989)).
The scope and limits of pretrial discovery are clearly set forth in
“Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”
Thus, if the information sought is inadmissible at trial, ”
“Evidence of (1) furnishing or offering or promising to furnish, or (2) accepting or offering or promising to accept, a valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to compromise a claim which was disputed as to either validity or amount, is not admissible to prove liability for or invalidity of the claim or its amount. Evidence of conduct or statements made in compromise negotiations is likewise not admissible. This rule does not require the exclusion of any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is presented in the course of compromise negotiations. This rule also does not require exclusion when the evidence is offered for another purpose, such as proving bias or prejudice of a witness, negativing a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution.”
In other words, “Rhode Island law recognizes that offers to compromise and evidence of settlement negotiations generally are not admissible into evidence.” Votolato v. Merandi, 747 A.2d 455, 461 (R.I. 2000). This Court has opined that “unless evidence of a settlement is relevant to some issue, other than the quantum of damages, a trial justice is instructed to bar the admission of such evidence and subsequently to make the appropriate reduction in any jury award rendered in favor of the plaintiff.” Id. at 462. We have adopted this rule of law because the “[e]xclusion of such evidence facilitates an atmosphere of compromise among the parties and promotes alternatives to litigation.” Id. at 461. “Further, it is well settled that such evidentiary protection extends to settlements reached between plaintiffs and third party tortfeasors.” Id.
The defendant does not contend that the settlement amount would be admissible at trial.3 Accordingly, it must be “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” DeCurtis, 152 A.3d at 420 (emphasis omitted).
The defendant argues that he “must be apprised of the amount which may be set off from any potential recovery” by plaintiffs against him. We are not persuaded.
Section 10-6-7(1) of the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act provides that “[a] release by the injured person of one joint tortfeasor, whether before or after judgment, does not discharge the other tortfeasors unless the release so provides; but reduces the claim against the other tortfeasors in the amount of the consideration paid for the release.”4 We have explained
relevant to the apportionment of damages—a calculation completed by the court, not the jury.
The defendant has failed to set forth any argument as to how production of the settlement amount is “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” DeCurtis, 152 A.3d at 420 (emphasis omitted). Instead, defendant contends that disclosure is consistent with the judiciary’s goal of fairness and encouraging settlements. More pointedly, defendant argues that disclosure of the settlement amount “will place [plaintiffs] and [defendant] on equal footing when evaluating claims, defenses, and potential damages at trial” and will “provide [him] equal access to information which is relevant to [his] trial strategy.” In short, defendant contends he needs to know the amount of the settlement in order to determine whether settlement would be in his best interest.
Contrary to defendant’s assertion,
The defendant nevertheless relies on a trial court decision in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Bennett v. La Pere, 112 F.R.D. 136 (D.R.I. 1986), a medical malpractice case, to support his argument that the amount of the settlement was discoverable prior to trial. See Bennett, 112 F.R.D. at 137. The plaintiffs in that case reached a settlement with the physician defendants, settling all their claims against the physicians, including their pro rata shares of any joint tortfeasor liability; the plaintiffs did not reach a settlement agreement with the hospital defendant and the settlement agreement left open the plaintiffs’ claims against the hospital. Id. The hospital then moved for production of the settlement documents. Id.
The court granted the hospital’s motion to compel disclosure of the settlement agreement. Bennett, 112 F.R.D. at 141. The court reasoned that the terms and dimensions of the settlement agreement between the plaintiffs and the settling codefendants were relevant to the litigation in several respects. Id. at 138. First, the damages the plaintiffs could collect from the hospital would depend on the terms and amount of the settlement agreement. Id. Second, the termination of the case against the physicians could have been crafted so as to insulate the hospital from liability. Id. at 138-39. Third, the court explained, “the shape and form of the partial settlement may illumine the viability
Unlike in Bennett, however, in the case before us all of the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement were provided to defendant, with the sole exclusion of the amount of the settlement.5
We consider the reasoning of Tempel v. Murphy, 30 A.3d 992 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2011), to be more persuasive. Tempel was also a medical malpractice case. See Tempel, 30 A.3d at 993. In that case, the plaintiffs settled with some, but not all of the defendants prior to trial. Id. After learning of the settlements, the remaining defendants moved to compel the production of the settlement documents, arguing that they were needed “to engage in an intelligent assessment of the risks and benefits of proceeding to trial versus settlement.” Id. at 999. The trial court granted the motions as to the language of the releases but denied the motions as to the monetary amount therein. Id. at 996. As a result, the plaintiffs provided redacted copies of the releases prior to trial and the defendants were only provided the specific dollar amounts of the settlements after the conclusion of the trial. Id. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs and the remaining defendants appealed, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court erred by refusing to allow the nonsettling defendants to inspect the amounts of the two settlement agreements prior to the judgment. Id. at 993-94.
The judgment was affirmed on appeal, Tempel, 30 A.3d at 994, and the court explained that “[a]bsent some fact in a given case that would change the result, the settlement amount contained in a joint tortfeasor release is not relevant at the pre-verdict stage.” Id. at 1001. The settlement amounts, the court explained, “did not, in any way, concern the facts relevant
The court also emphasized that the defendants had received a copy of the settlement agreement prior to trial, with the amount of consideration redacted. Tempel, 30 A.3d at 1002. The court explained that the terms of the agreement “were relevant pre-trial because the nature of the release would determine whether [the defendants], if liable, would get an automatic pro rata reduction or whether the jointfeasor status of the settling parties would have to be adjudicated.” Id. The amount within the settlement agreement, however, was provided to the defendants at the stage of the proceedings in which that amount became relevant—after a judgment was entered. Id.
Although not binding on this Court, we also find two scholarly decisions of the Presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court addressing this issue most persuasive. In Alessio v. Capaldi, No. PC 06-5850, slip op. (R.I. Super. filed Oct. 16, 2007), a negligence action, the plaintiff settled its claims with one of three defendants. Alessio, slip op. at 1. One of the nonsettling defendants then filed a motion to compel production of a copy of the settlement agreement, including disclosure of the terms of the settlement. Id. at 2. The defendant argued that the settlement agreement must be disclosed because: (1) if found to be a joint tortfeasor, it would be entitled to a setoff of any funds paid by the settling defendant against any judgment for the plaintiff; (2) plaintiff could obtain a windfall if he had recovered the full value of his claims from the settlement agreement; and (3) the defendant was entitled to explore issues of bias with respect to the settling defendant, and therefore, the terms of the settlement agreement were relevant. Id. The plaintiff objected, arguing that the settlement agreement was inadmissible pursuant to
The Presiding Justice denied the defendant’s motion to compel, reasoning that the settlement agreement was not discoverable. Alessio, slip op. at 4, 5. She explained that:
“Although [d]efendant is correct that it is entitled to setoff, immediate disclosure of the settlement agreement is not required. * * *
“Defendant’s second argument, the possibility that [p]laintiff may receive a ‘windfall,’ is also unavailing. The full value of [p]laintiff’s claims will be determined at trial. Disclosure of the settlement agreement and the amount paid by [the settling defendant] sheds no light on what the ultimate value of [p]laintiff’s claim will be. Also, as noted by [p]laintiff, ‘* * * the possibility of a windfall is precisely defeated by the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act, * * * §10-6-7.‘” Id. at 4-5.
“As to bias, [d]efendant merely states that since [a defendant] has settled, [the settling defendant] ‘may now provide favorable testimony on [plaintiff’s] behalf in any upcoming trial in this matter.’ Such rank speculation as to present or future bias is a wholly insufficient reason for ordering disclosure of the settlement agreement.” Id. at 5.
The Presiding Justice again addressed the discoverability of a settlement agreement in Lepore v. A.O. Smith Corp., No. PC 12-1469, slip op. (R.I. Super. filed May 10, 2017). In Lepore, the defendants moved to compel the production of certain settlement releases between the plaintiff and settling codefendants, arguing that the releases were required in order for them to properly evaluate any potential setoff of damages due to their status as joint tortfeasors. Lepore, slip op. at 1-2. The plaintiff objected, arguing that the defendants were not entitled to production of the settlement documents because they were irrelevant to the defendants’ liability and would only become relevant after trial in order to apportion damages. Id. at 3.
The court iterated “that the joint tortfeasor language contained in a settlement agreement is irrelevant to a determination of liability,” and emphasized that
As in Tempel, Alessio, and Lepore, in the case at bar, we are not convinced that the amount of the settlement agreement is relevant to any issue in this case other than the apportionment of damages, which becomes relevant only after a verdict is reached. The amount that the settling codefendants agreed to pay is not relevant to a determination of defendant’s liability at trial. Thus, discovery of the settlement amount will be appropriate only after a judgment in plaintiffs’ favor is entered.
We therefore conclude that the trial justice abused her discretion in granting the defendant’s motion to compel production of a complete, unredacted copy of the settlement agreement, including the settlement amount.
Conclusion
For the reasons set forth herein, we quash the decision of the Superior Court ordering production of the settlement amount paid by the settling codefendants. The papers in this case may be remanded to the Superior Court with our decision endorsed thereon.
“Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”
In DeCurtis v. Visconti, Boren & Campbell, Ltd., 152 A.3d 413 (R.I. 2017), this Court explained that “[c]ritically, our discovery rules are liberal and have been construed to ‘promote broad discovery.‘” DeCurtis, 152 A.3d at 421 (emphasis added) (quoting Henderson, 966 A.2d at 1246). In fact, we have consistently and repeatedly stressed the exceeding breadth of the rules governing discovery and noted that the “principal limitations are that the information sought must be relevant to the pending matter and not privileged.” Plante v. Stack, 109 A.3d 846, 853 (R.I. 2015); Pastore v. Samson, 900 A.2d 1067, 1074 (R.I. 2006) (same); see also DePina v. State, 79 A.3d 1284, 1289 (R.I. 2013) (“This Court previously has indicated that
Moreover, as the majority aptly highlights, there are numerous reported and unpublished decisions and orders that have
Although the court in Bennett granted the nonsettling defendant’s motion pursuant to
Finally, the court reviewed the underlying considerations present in this context and determined that the full disclosure of settlement agreements creates the most desirable outcome. See Bennett, 112 F.R.D. at 141. In reaching this conclusion, the trial justice stated the following:
“To the extent that the [nonsettling defendant’s] ability realistically to evaluate the plaintiffs’ case against it depends on an awareness of the terms and conditions of the settlement with the codefendants—and it plainly depends upon that information to a meaningful degree—the remaining defendant should not be left to grope blindly in the dark. So long as the policy of the Rules is the promotion of the ‘just, speedy, and inexpensive’ resolution of cases, then fair settlements must always be encouraged. Fairness cannot be achieved when one side is needlessly blindfolded.” Id. at 141.
My review of the record compels me to conclude that the trial justice did not abuse her discretion in granting Dr. Sambandam’s motion to compel the production of the settlement agreement in this case, which arises from an unfortunate death that occurred more than eight years ago. While the exact figure from the settlement agreement is generally inadmissible pursuant to
Furthermore, I firmly believe that prohibiting the discoverability of full settlement
After review of the record and consideration of the parties’ written and oral submissions, it is further my view that this case simply does not contain any “unusual or exceptional circumstances” that warrant the issuance of the extraordinary writ, and that this Court should therefore deny and dismiss the petition and quash the writ as improvidently granted. See Kelly v. Kelly, 104 R.I. 650, 651, 247 A.2d 905, 905-06 (1968).
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
SUPREME COURT – CLERK’S OFFICE
Licht Judicial Complex
250 Benefit Street
Providence, RI 02903
OPINION COVER SHEET
| Title of Case | Patricia Noonan, individually and in her capacity as Executrix of and on behalf of the beneficiaries of the Estate of William J. Noonan, et al. v. Sundersansan Sambandam, M.D. |
| Case Number | No. 2022-22-M.P. (PC 16-4767) |
| Date Opinion Filed | June 27, 2023 |
| Justices | Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and Long, JJ. |
| Written By | Associate Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg |
| Source of Appeal | Providence County Superior Court |
| Judicial Officer from Lower Court | Associate Justice Netti C. Vogel |
| Attorney(s) on Appeal | For Plaintiffs: Joseph P. Marasco, Esq. For Defendant: Paul F. Galamaga, Esq. |
SU-CMS-02A (revised November 2022)
Notes
“The former provision for discovery of relevant but inadmissible information that appears ‘reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence’ is * * * deleted. The phrase has been used by some, incorrectly, to define the scope of discovery. As the Committee Note to the 2000 amendments observed, use of the ‘reasonably calculated’ phrase to define the scope of discovery ‘might swallow any other limitation on the scope of discovery.’ The 2000 amendments sought to prevent such misuse by adding the word ‘Relevant’ at the beginning of the sentence, making clear that ‘relevant means within the scope of discovery as defined in this subdivision * * *.’ The ‘reasonably calculated’ phrase has continued to create problems, however, and is removed by these amendments. It is replaced by the direct statement
We note, however, that no such amendment has been made tothat ‘Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.’ Discovery of nonprivileged information not admissible in evidence remains available so long as it is otherwise within the scope of discovery.”