Dimitrios Biller will be able to introduce documents in his arbitration against his former employer, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., that the company had claimed were privileged. And if that news weren’t bad enough for the car manufacturer, a plaintiffs’ lawyer in Texas thinks the ruling may influence the judge in his case to allow the same documents into his contempt proceeding.
In a long-awaited ruling, the California arbitrator said on Thursday that Biller had made a prima facia showing that the documents, which ordinarily would not be available for him to use in discovery or during the arbitration hearing, qualify under the “crime-fraud” exception.
