DOLLAR GENERAL, INC., AND RICHARD GLATZER, M.D., PETITIONERS,
v.
IRENE DEANGELIS AND DOMINIQUE DEANGELIS, HER HUSBAND, RESPONDENTS

Fla. 3d DCA | 1991-12-24
No. 91-2326
Before HUBBART, COPE and GERSTEN, JJ.
590 So. 2d 555 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1991) Positive Treatment
Cited by 16 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Dollar General and its expert witness Dr. Glatzer sought a writ of certiorari to review a trial court order denying a protective order against a deposition subpoena duces tecum for billing records and financial documents. The appellate court found the records relevant to credibility but determined the production request was unduly burdensome and oppressive given the short timeframe and lack of centralized filing systems, quashing the order in part and remanding with instructions to balance discovery relevance against burden.


Holding

The appellate court held that while the requested records are relevant to the expert's credibility and discoverable, the trial court abused its discretion in denying the protective order because Dr. Glatzer's uncontradicted affidavit established a prima facie case of oppressiveness. The court quashed the order in part, prohibiting production under the unreasonable four-day timeframe, but remanded for the trial court to fashion a reasonable production order that balances discovery interests against undue burden, potentially requiring plaintiffs to reimburse reasonable costs.


Headnotes

[1] A subpoena duces tecum seeking voluminous records from an expert witness may be deemed unduly burdensome and oppressive if compliance would require significant time and e…

[2] A prima facie case of oppressiveness is established when an uncontradicted affidavit demonstrates the substantial burden and expense of producing requested records.

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Key Quotes

“We conclude that the records sought by the plaintiffs are extremely relevant on the issue of Dr. Glatzer's credibility as an expert witness for the defendant and were clearly discoverable if not unduly burdensome to Dr. Glatzer to produce.”

Establishes that expert witness financial records are relevant to credibility and generally discoverable, but discovery obligations are limited by burden considerations.

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Facts & Procedural History

Irene Deangelis sued Dollar General for injuries from a trip-and-fall accident. During discovery, plaintiff's counsel issued a subpoena duces tecum to…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the defendant Dollar General, Inc. in a negligence action arising from a trip-and-fall accident and by Richard Glatzer, M.D., an expert witness for the defendant in this action. The instant petition seeks review of a trial court order denying a defense motion for a protective order as to the plaintiff Irene Deangelis’ deposition subpoena duces tecum of Richard Glatzer, M.D. We grant the petition and quash, in part, the order under review.

The subpoena duces tecum issued by the plaintiffs directed Richard Glatzer, M.D. to produce the following records at his deposition:

“1. True and correct copies of all bills issued by Richard Glatzer, M.D. as a defense expert examiner to any insurance company or law firm from January 1, 1989 to the present (Note: the name of the patient may be whited out.)

2. True and correct copies of all journals, ledgers or 1099 forms pertaining to payments received by Richard Glatzer, M.D., from January 1, 1989 to the present for examinations performed at the request of any insurance company or law firm.”

The deposition was to be held ten days after the plaintiffs mailed the notice of deposition to Dr. Glatzer. The defendant Dollar General, Inc. filed a motion for a protective order on the ground that Dr. Glatzer would not be able to comply with this subpoena without expending a great amount of time and money, and therefore the production request was unduly burdensome and oppressive. In support thereof, the defendant submitted a detailed affidavit of Dr. Glatzer; this affidavit states that it would take Dr. Glatzer’s office several months and great expense to produce the records requested as his office does not have any type of central filing system from which the requested records could be readily obtained. The plaintiffs submitted no counteraffidav-its. The trial court denied the motion for protective order and required production of the requested records in four days at Dr. Glatzer's expense. This petition for a writ of certiorari follows.

We conclude that the records sought by the plaintiffs are extremely relevant on the issue of Dr. Glatzer’s credibility as an expert witness for the defendant and were clearly discoverable if not unduly burdensome to Dr. Glatzer to produce. McAdoo v. Ogden, 573 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). However, given the fact that Dr. Glatzer’s affidavit went uncontradicted below, we conclude that a prima facie case of oppressiveness was established in this case, so that the order under review must necessarily be quashed, in part, because, among other things, the trial court required the production of voluminous records in just four days from the entry of the order appealed from and required Dr. Glatzer to bear the expense of producing the requested records. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Gray, 546 So. 2d 36 (Fla.3d DCA 1989).

Upon remand, the plaintiffs may depose Dr. Glatzer [or others] to inquire whether his office or some other party has the records requested — particularly the 1099 forms — in another form which would not be unduly burdensome for Dr. Glatzer or others to produce. It is, for example, difficult to believe — as no doubt the trial court concluded — that Dr. Glatzer does not have ready access to some of the records requested if for no other purpose than for income tax filings, particularly the 1099 forms. Upon the plaintiffs’ making the appropriate record upon remand, the trial court is directed to enter an order thereafter which (1) mandates, within a reasonable time, the production of the requested records which would not be unduly burdensome for Dr. Glatzer to produce, and (2) requires the plaintiffs to reimburse Dr. Glatzer for the reasonable costs incurred in producing such records.

Petition granted; order under review quashed in part; cause remanded.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Syken v. Elkins, 644 So. 2d 539 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
    …at., one by Judge Goldman, in Niurys Antomarchy v. Trend South, Inc., and two previous cases in which Dr. Glatzer has been the subject, State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Gray, 546 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) and Dollar General, Inc. v. Deangelis, 590 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). The trial judge then announced that she found it “inconceivable that Dr. Glatzer has no idea of the approximate amount of money he makes performing IME's, or alternatively, that there is no reasonable means for him to provide suc…
    1 / 2
  • Crandall v. Michaud, 603 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
    …rmed on claimants upheld; doctor could white out patients’ names to protect confidentiality; petitioner’s burden did not outweigh desirability of providing trier of fact with relevant helpful information). See also Dollar General, Inc. v. DeAngelis, 590 So. 2d 555, 556 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). We believe a distinction has to be drawn between cases like McAdoo where the information sought is merely records, of one kind or another, of payments to independent medical experts by insurers or defense law firms, and cas…
  • Wood v. Tallahassee Mem'l Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 593 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …ncipal bases for petitioner’s challenge to the order are that it is oppressive, harassing and results in an unjustified invasion of the witnesses’ right to privacy. Initially, we agree with the court’s conclusion in Dollar General, Inc. v. Glatzer, 590 So. 2d 555, 556 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), that records of the type sought below by respondents “are extremely relevant on the issue of ... credibility as an expert witness....” Further, we align ourselves with the Third and the Fourth Districts, and hold that, to de…

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