Class Action

Class Action Defense Discovery Cases-Montoya v. S.C.C.P. Painting: Maryland Federal Court Holds Employer Bank Records Relevant But Discovery Concerning Immigration Status Irrelevant To Class Action Certification Issues

By Michael J. Hassen

Labor Law Class Action Plaintiffs Entitled to Redacted Bank Records of Putative Class Members because Defendant Lacked other Business Records Relevant to Class Action Numerosity and Commonality Requirements, and Class Action Defense Attorneys Entitled to Information Regarding Specific Terms of Plaintiffs’ Employment Agreements because Relevant to Typicality and Commonality but not Entitled to Information Concerning Immigration Status, Maryland Federal Court Holds

Plaintiffs filed a labor law class action against S.C.C.P. Painting alleging that it “failed to pay wages for all work performed, failed to pay wages for work directed to be performed but not accounted for on timesheets, failed to pay time and a half for hours worked greater than 40 hours, and deducted wages from paychecks, purportedly for tax withholding purposes but not in fact withheld for that purpose.” Montoya v. S.C.C.P. Painting Contractors, Inc., 530 F.Supp.2d 746, 747 (D.Md. 2008). The class action alleged violations of both state and federal law, and sought to proceed both as a class action under Rule 23 and as a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), id. As discovery limited to class action certification issues proceeded, disputes arose and each side filed motions to compel discovery. Id., at 747-48. Plaintiffs’ lawyer sought bank records; defense attorneys sought inter alia information concerning plaintiffs’ immigration status and concerning the specific employment agreements between the putative class representatives and defendant. The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion, and granted and denied the defense motion.

The district court first addressed plaintiffs’ request for bank records, which sought documents “reflecting wages paid to any employees.” Montoya, at 748. The court held that information sought was relevant to issues of numerosity and commonality, and that privacy concerns were resolved by plaintiffs’ agreement that the names of the employees may be redacted from the bank records. Id. The court noted that the records were necessary “in light of the absence of other business records,” and that according to defense attorneys “SCCP did not have any payroll records, no information submitted to tax authorities, no tax sheets or sign-in sheets, no personnel files and no documents showing the rates of pay for any person.” Id. Because the company did not have any information necessary to support a motion for class action certification, plaintiffs were entitled to obtain the bank records.

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on April 10, 2008 (boomark / email).