A world-renowned design firm, embroiled in current litigation, must turn over in discovery documents related to a past employee’s settled discrimination claims, despite its argument that the information should remain shielded by the confidential settlement agreement it reached with the employee, a Manhattan federal judge has ruled.
Southern District Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses has found against defendant Despont Studios on two related discovery issues in a lengthy opinion that also cited Rule 5.6(a)(2) of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct as a reason to turn back Despont’s argument that a plaintiffs-side law firm, which represented Despont employees in both the past lawsuit and current suit, may not use discovery documents tied to the past employee’s settled claims.
