LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SAN MATEO COUNTY, Respondent; TIMOTHY H. JOYCE, Real Party in Interest., 197 Cal. App. 4th 640

Summary

The employee alleged discriminatory application of a reduction in force for the purpose of terminating older employees. He sought to discover information that included the names and ages of terminated workers and the names and contact information of workers who were not terminated. The court held that the information sought was relevant under Code Civ. Proc., § 2017.010, and Evid. Code, § 210, because it was likely to lead to admissible statistical evidence to prove both disparate treatment and disparate impact claims. The trial court erred, however, by not conducting a sufficient analysis of the privacy rights of the third party employees and former employees under Cal. Const., art. I, § 1. Although the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq., reflected a compelling public policy of ending discrimination and retaliation in the workplace, that public policy had to be weighed against the privacy interests involved. It was necessary to consider whether ...