WEST PICO FURNITURE COMPANY OF LOS ANGELES, Petitioner, v. SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Respondent; PACIFIC FINANCE LOANS, Real Party in Interest, 56 Cal. 2d 407

Summary

The court held that the trial court had abused its discretion in granting several objections, stating that a question seeking information about employees who participated in the transactions at issue was relevant because it would allow the furniture company to determine which employees to depose. Furthermore, it stated, while answering some interrogatories might be burdensome, the objection of burdensomeness was valid only when the burden was such that it would result in injustice. Thus, it held, in considering the objection, the trial court should have recognized its discretionary power to grant in part and deny in part and should have balanced the purpose and need for the information against the burden that production would entail. It stated that rather than simply denying other interrogatories, which it described as "shotgun questions," in toto, the trial court could have required that they be rephrased. It held that an objection that a question was compound in form was groundless, ...