Pleadings Flashcards
A contractor filed a breach of contract action against a supplier in federal district court, seeking compensatory damages. The contractor does not seek, and under applicable law cannot recover, punitive damages. The supplier admits the existence of the contract but denies breach. The contractor served on the supplier an interrogatory asking the supplier to state his net worth.
Assuming the supplier objects to the interrogatory and the contractor files a motion to compel an answer, will the court require the supplier to answer?
A - Yes, because the requested information is relevant.
B - No, unless the contractor seeks the information to determine whether the supplier has sufficient assets to make the action worthwhile.
C - No, because the request seeks privileged information.
D - No, because the requested information is not relevant to the claim or defense of any party.
(D) The court will not require the supplier to answer. In general, discovery may be had of any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case. Here, the supplier’s net worth is not relevant to any party’s claim or defense because the contractor does not seek punitive damages. Thus, (A) and (B) are incorrect. (C) is incorrect because the supplier’s net worth does not fall within any privilege or work product protection. Privileged information means information that is protected under various evidentiary privileges (e.g., attorney-client privilege, physician-patient privilege). Material prepared in anticipation of litigation and the work product of an attorney are also afforded protection under the Federal Rules. These protections are not applicable to the information sought.
