Opinion

Linhares v. Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority

Court
District Court, D. Massachusetts
Filed
Dec 16, 2022
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 22.9%

The opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

RONALD LINHARES, *

*

Plaintiff, *

*

v. * Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-12035-IT

*

WOODS HOLE, MARTHA’S VINEYARD, *

AND NANTUCKET STEAMSHIP *

AUTHORITY, *

*

Defendant. *

ORDER

December 16, 2022

TALWANI, D.J.

Pending before the court is Plaintiff Ronald Linhares’s Motion to Compel [Doc. No. 60]

Defendant Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamship Authority (the

“Steamship Authority”) to produce certain documents, surveillance materials, and depositions.

For the reasons set forth herein, the motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. Background

On July 21, 2021, Linhares filed his First Amended Complaint (“Complaint”) [Doc. No.

27] against the Steamship Authority related to injuries Linhares allegedly sustained while

employed by the Steamship Authority as a crew member on the M/V NANTUCKET (the

“Vessel”). Plaintiff alleges that on January 13, 2020, he slipped on a stairwell in the Vessel and

on to his knees because the stairs were not properly constructed of and/or treated with a

sufficiently maintained non-skid surface. First Am. Compl. ¶¶ 9-10 [Doc. No. 27]. Plaintiff

alleges that as a result of the fall, he suffered an injury to his right knee. Id. at ¶ 11. Plaintiff also

brings claims against the Steamship Authority for failure of maintenance and cure with respect to

his injuries related to the fall. Id. at ¶¶ 24-29.

On July 25, 2022, Steamship Authority provided its Answers to Plaintiff’s Second Set of

Interrogatories (“Answers to Interrogatories”) [Doc. No. 60-2]. On September 16, 2022,

Linhares’s counsel conducted a Rule 34 examination onboard the Vessel of the stairway, step,

and tread where Linhares claims to have been injured. See Ex. C, Sept. 16, 2022 Letter [Doc. No.

60-3] (acknowledging completion of vessel inspection). That same day, Linhares requested that

the Steamship Authority provide the following documents (among others) referenced in its

Answers to Interrogatories: (i) the Vessel’s “construction plans”; (ii) the Vessel’s “design

approval”; (iii) the Vessel’s “initial Certificate of Inspection and each Annual Certificate of

Inspection”; (iv) records of the order, purchase, acquisition, and installation of the A Step 700

Non Slip Tread (“Tread”); and (v) records pertaining to any inspections, modifications,

replacements, and/or repairs of the Tread. Id.1 On September 21, 2022, Linhares sent Steamship

Authority a second letter requesting among others (vi) surveillance video from the Vessel from

which Steamship Authority has produced still images as part of its disclosures; and (vii) all

materials pertaining to surveillance of Linhares identified in Answer 3 of the Answers to

Interrogatories. Ex. E, Sept. 21, 2022 Letter [Doc. No. 60-5]. Linhares’s second letter also

requested that Steamship Authority contact Linhares’s counsel regarding the scheduling of

fourteen depositions. Id. That same day, Linhares requested in a third letter that the Steamship

Authority produce the report from Linhares’s September 14, 2022 medical examination. Ex. F,

Sept. 21, 2022 Rule 35(b)(1) Letter [Doc. No. 60-6].

1 Requests as to additional documents are not the subject of the motion to compel and

accordingly, these requests and responses are not detailed here.

The Steamship Authority treated Linhares’s September 16 and 21, 2022 letters as further

requests for documents under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34. Ex. D, Sept. 25, 2022 Email 1-

2 [Doc. No. 60-4]. On September 25, 2022, the Steamship Authority responded by email to

Linhares in part objecting to requests (i)-(iii), (vi)-(vii) on various grounds discussed in detail

below where relevant and indicating that the Steamship Authority would respond pursuant to

Rule 34 as to (iv)-(v). Id. According to the record before the court, Steamship Authority still has

not provided this response. In its email, the Steamship Authority noted that the parties had

already scheduled depositions for four of the fourteen deponents requested and objected to the

depositions of the ten individuals not yet scheduled to be deposed for various reasons. Id.

On November 8, 2022, Linhares filed the pending Motion to Compel [Doc. No. 60]

Steamship Authority to produce the document and record requests listed above, eight Steamship

Authority employees for depositions, and the medical report from Linhares’s September 14,

2022 medical exam sought by Steamship Authority.

II. Discussion

Under Rule 34 “[a] party may serve on any other party a request within the scope of Rule

26(b) . . . to produce and permit the requesting party . . . to inspect . . .the following items in the

responding party’s possession, custody, or control . . . . any designated documents or

electronically stored information . . . stored in any medium from which information can be

obtained [] directly . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1)(A).

“The party to whom the request is directed must respond in writing within 30 days after

being served or—if the request was delivered under Rule 26(d)(2)—within 30 days after the

parties’ first Rule 26(f) conference.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(b)(2)(A). If the response is an objection,

“[f]or each item or category, the response must . . . state with specificity the grounds for

objecting to the request, including the reasons. The responding party may state that it will

produce copies of documents or of electronically stored information . . . . The production must

then be completed no later than the time for inspection specified in the request or another

reasonable time specified in the response.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(b)(2)(B).

A. The Steamship Authority’s Outstanding Rule 34 Responses

In its September 25, 2022 email, the Steamship Authority indicated that it would respond

to several of Linhares’s requests pursuant to Rule 34, but on the record before the court it has not

done so. To the extent that the Steamship Authority’s responses to Linhares’s September 16 and

21, 2022 requests remain outstanding (and are not resolved by this Order), the Steamship

Authority shall provide its responses in accordance with Rule 34 by December 23, 2022.

B. Construction Plans, Design Approval, and Certificate of Inspection

Linhares requested in an interrogatory that the Steamship Authority “[i]dentify all safety

devices, appliances and/or equipment and/or safety procedures that were in use and/or in place at

the time of the [i]ncident, pertaining to the following: a) walking up the steps to the 01 Deck of

the Vessel; b) preventing crew members from slipping and or/being caused to fall while talking

up the steps to the 01 Deck of the [V]essel . . .” Answers to Interrogatories, Interrog. 9 [Doc. No.

60-2]. The Steamship Authority stated with respect to “a) & b) the stairway was equipped with a

handrail[], each step is provided with a non-slip tread with yellow painted stripe at the tread

nose, various lights illuminating the entire stairway, was constructed to US Coast Guard design

approval, is inspected yearly by US Coast Guard Sector personnel resulting in the issuance of a

Certificate of Inspection which permits its safe utilization as a walking surface for passengers

and crew . . .” Id.

Linhares further requested in an interrogatory that the Steamship Authority “identify any

and all individuals and/or entities that you consulted with and/or any and all documents,

regulations and/or guidelines that you reviewed to implement the use of all safety devices,

appliances and/or equipment, safety procedures, and/or training identified in your answers to

Interrogatories 9 and 10.” Answers to Interrogatories, Interrog. 13 [Doc. No. 60-2]. The

Steamship Authority responded in pertinent part that the Vessel is a “passenger and vehicle ferry

regulated and constructed pursuant to Subchapter H-Passenger Vessel regulations issued under

46 CFR part 70. The construction plans were approved by USCG Headquarters in Washington,

DC, she is inspected annually by USCG Sector Marine Inspectors before its Certificate of

Inspection is issued permitting the carriage of passengers and crew . . .” Id.

Plaintiff’s September 16, 2022 letter in part requested the following documents

referenced in the Defendant’s Answers to Interrogatories 9 and 13: (i) “[t]he [V]essel’s plans,

including but not limited to the ‘construction plans’”; (ii) “design approval” for the Vessel; and

(iii) “[t]he initial Certificate of Inspection and each Annual Certificate of Inspection.” Ex. C,

Sept. 16, 2022 Letter [Doc. No. 60-3].

On September 25, 2022, the Steamship Authority objected that these requests are “not

relevant to the claims and defenses in this action, [are] not reasonably calculated to lead to the

discovery of admissible evidence, and [are] not proportional to the needs of this alleged slip

claim in that [they] call[] for the production of documents concerning parts of the Vessel having

absolutely nothing to do with Plaintiff’s alleged slip and fall on January 13, 2020.” Ex. D, Sept.

25, 2022 Email, ¶¶ 1-3 [Doc. No. 60-4]. With respect to Linhares’s request for the Vessel’s

certificates of inspection, the Steamship Authority conceded that the certificate inspection for the

period encompassing January 13, 2020 (the date of the incident) is relevant to the claim. Id. at ¶

3.

In its motion to compel, Plaintiff contends that although Defendant identified the USCG

design approval, certificates of inspection, and construction plans approved by USCG

Headquarters as various safety devices and procedures relevant to the Vessel, Defendant has

improperly refused to produce these documents where Defendant may rely on these documents

to argue that the stairs were adequately maintained and Plaintiff may have to cross-examine

witnesses about these documents and the Vessel’s compliance without being able to review the

underlying documents. Mot. to Compel 4 [Doc. No. 60]; Answer to Interrogs. 9, 13 [Doc. No.

60-2].

Despite citing these documents in response to Linhares’s inquiry about Steamship

Authority’s safety equipment and procedures in place at the time of the incident, Steamship

Authority now contends the construction plans are irrelevant and disproportionate to the needs of

this case where the plans pre-date the Vessel’s completion in 1974 and the plans detail the

Vessel’s hull, framing, structure, decks, and other areas, but not the tread on the step at issue.

Opp’n 3 [Doc. No. 61]. Steamship Authority further contends that the Vessel’s design approvals

are irrelevant and disproportionate for similar reasons. Id. at 4.2 With respect to the certificates of

inspection, Steamship Authority contends that the initial 1974 certificate of inspection and each

annual certificate of inspection or “some forty-six years of Certificates of Inspection” will

provide no information as to the tread issue. Id. (emphasis in original). Steamship Authority also

2 Defendant notes that the design approval issued by the USCG should be available from the

USCG through a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request and thus, since both parties have

the ability to secure copies of the requested evidence, the obligation to produce the document to

the other party does not exist. Opp’n 4 n.2 [Doc. No. 61].

argues that production of these documents is unwarranted where Linhares had the opportunity to

inspect and measure the tread, step and stairway at issue on September 16, 2022. Id. at 3.

Linhares alleges that he slipped and fell because the removable Tread was smooth and

slippery after its non-skid surface had been allowed to wear down over time. Mot. to Compel 2

[Doc. No. 60]. As such, the court finds the pre-1974 construction plans for the Vessel (other than

the recently produced 1973 plan showing handrail and typical tread and rise details for the

Vessel’s passenger stairways which reportedly has already been produced, see Opp’n 3 [Doc.

No. 61]), have minimal bearing on Linhares’s claims or the Steamship Authority’s defenses. The

court similarly finds that the USCG’s design approval for the Vessel issued prior to the Vessel’s

completion in 1974 is irrelevant to the claims and defenses and disproportionate to the needs of

the case, again, where Linahres’s claims do not concern the construction of the stairs.

But where Linhares’s claims turn on the alleged lack of proper maintenance to the Tread

covering the stairway, the court finds that the certificate of inspection for the period including

January 13, 2020—the date of the incident—and the five prior years is directly relevant to his

claims, and to the Steamship Authority’s defense that the certificate of inspection “permits [the

stairway’s] safe utilization as a walking surface for passengers and crew.” Answer to Interrog. 9

[Doc. No. 60-2]. Steamship Authority admitted as much with respect to the certificate of

inspection covering the period including January 13, 2020.

Accordingly, the court denies Linahres’s motion to the extent it seeks the Vessel’s

construction plans, design approvals, and annual certificates of inspection for the periods

covering January 13, 2014, and earlier, but grants the motion to the extent it seeks production of

the certificate of inspection for the periods including January 13, 2015, to January 13, 2020. The

court’s finding that the Vessel’s construction plans, design approvals (other than the recently

produced 1973 plan showing handrail and typical tread and rise details for the Vessel’s passenger

stairways which reportedly already been produced, see Opp’n 3 [Doc. No. 61]), and certificates

of inspection for periods prior to January 13, 2015 are irrelevant to Linhares’s claims cuts both

ways. Absent production of these documents, the Steamship Authority (and its experts) will not

be permitted to rely on these documents at trial.

C. Documents Relating to the Tread

Linhares’s September 16, 2022 letter requested that Steamship Authority produce

documents, including records of the order, purchase, acquisition, installation, modification,

replacement, and/or repairs, related to the Tread identified in the Answers to Interrogatories.

Mot. to Compel 6 [Doc. No. 60]. During discovery conferences, the Steamship Authority has

refused to produce the documents on the ground that they are in the possession of a third-party

vendor. Id.

In his motion to compel, Linhares contends that even if such records are in the possession

of a third-party vendor that the Steamship Authority uses to perform periodic refurbishments of

the Vessel, those records are in the Steamship Authority’s “possession, custody, or control”

under Rule 34(a). Id. at 5. Linhares further contends that these documents are “crucial” to his

understanding of the Tread in question. Id. at 6-7. The Steamship Authority contends that while

it can make a demand for the Tread records from the third-party vendor, such a demand does not

constitute control under Rule 34(a). Opp’n 5 [Doc. No. 61]. The Steamship Authority further

contends that because Linhares can subpoena the documents from the third-party vendor, the

Steamship Authority is under no obligation to produce them. Id. at 6.

As an initial matter, the Steamship Authority has not properly objected to Linhares’s Rule

34 request for the Tread-related documents where on the record before the court it appears that

the Steamship Authority has made its written objections for the first time in its opposition to the

motion to compel.

Nor are the objections warranted. For purposes of Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 34(a)(1)(A), “[t]he

concept of ‘control’ has been construed broadly.” Roy v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., 2021

WL 3727143, at *2 (D. Mass. Aug. 23, 2021), on reconsideration in part, 2022 WL 686335 (D.

Mass. Mar. 8, 2022). “[A] document is ‘under a party’s ‘control’ when that party has the right,

authority or ability to obtain [the] document[ ] upon demand.” Merchia v. United States Internal

Revenue Serv., 336 F.R.D. 396, 398 (D. Mass. 2020) (quoting Szulik v. State St. Bank and Tr.

Co., 2014 WL 3942934, at *1 (D. Mass. Aug. 11, 2014). While the Steamship Authority refutes

Linhares’s contention that the Steamship Authority has the “right” to demand the records at

issue, Opp’n 5 [Doc. No. 61], nothing in the record suggests that the Steamship Authority—as a

customer of the third-party shipyard servicing the Vessel—does not have the practical ability to

obtain the service-related records. See In re NTL, Inc. Sec. Litig., 244 F.R.D. 179, 195 (S.D.N.Y.

2007) (“‘control’ does not require that the party have legal ownership or actual physical

possession of the documents at issue; rather, documents are considered to be under a party's

control when that party has the right, authority, or practical ability to obtain the documents from

a non-party to the action”). The Steamship Authority’s second argument that it is under no

obligation to produce the records because Linhares could subpoena the documents from the

shipyard himself is unavailing. In Shcherbakovskiy v. Da Capo Al Fine, Ltd., the Second Circuit

case that Steamship Authority cites for this proposition continues on to note that “if a party has

access and the practical ability to possess documents not available to the party seeking them,

production may be required.” 490 F.3d 130, 138 (2d Cir. 2007) (emphasis added).

To the extent that Linhares’s motion seeks to compel the Steamship Authority to produce

documents related to the Tread, the motion is granted. As Linhares contends that he needs to

review the documents in order to adequately prepare for depositions of the Steamship

Authority’s representatives, the Steamship Authority shall produce the documents, including

records of the order, purchase, acquisition, installation, modification, replacement, and/or

repairs, related to the Tread no later than January 3, 2023.

D. Post-Incident Surveillance and Reports and Video of the Event

Linhares seeks to compel the Steamship Authority to produce “surveillance materials,”

including “a report and photographs concerning Linhares obtained on November 8, 2021[,] and a

report and video footage obtained on May 16 and May 20, 2022[,] . . . issued by Pilgrim Security

and Consulting LLC,” referenced in Answer 3 to the Answers to Interrogatories, and the

surveillance video from which the Steamship Authority produced still images as part of its initial

disclosures. Mot. to Compel 7-8 [Doc. No. 60]; Sept. 21, 2022 Letter [Doc. No. 60-5]

(requesting the surveillance material pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 34).

Linhares contends further that the Steamship Authority has video of the event that the Steamship

Authority has refused to produce. Mot. to Compel 8 [Doc. No. 60]. The Steamship Authority

contends that the request is moot because it has produced “a post-incident surveillance video” of

Linhares since he filed the motion to compel. Opp’n 6 [Doc. No. 61].

1. Videos and Photographs

The record is unclear as to whether there is one or more post-surveillance videos. See

Answers to Interrog. 3 [Doc. No. 60-2] (referencing “video footage obtained on May 16 and May

20, 2022” and “visual recordings”). To the extent the Steamship Authority has produced all post-

incident surveillance videos, it shall supplement its Rule 34 response to so state. To the extent

that the Steamship Authority has post-incident surveillance video, photographs, or video of the

event that it has not yet produced, the motion is granted. The court orders Steamship Authority to

produce the photographs concerning Linhares obtained on November 8, 2021, any further post-

surveillance video, and any video of the event no later than January 3, 2023.

2. Investigative Reports

“The court . . . is reluctant at this time to order the production . . . of the written

surveillance reports prepared for Defendant’s counsel by his investigators.” Papadakis v. CSX

Transp., Inc., 233 F.R.D. 227, 228-29 (D. Mass. 2006). “The work-product doctrine provides that

attorney work-product is discoverable only upon a showing of ‘substantial need’ and an inability

to obtain the substantial equivalent ‘without undue hardship.’” Id. (citing Fed. R. Civ. P.

26(b)(3)). “The doctrine creates a form of qualified immunity from discovery for such materials,

but does not label them ‘privileged’ and, thus, outside the scope of discovery under Rule

26(b)(1).” Id.

“Work-product protection, however, is limited to ‘documents and tangible things.’” Id.

“It does not prohibit the discovery of underlying facts.” Id. “Thus, the observations of

Defendant’s investigators, as well as relevant information with respect to the mechanics of the

surveillance, are fair game for inquiry.” Id.

In light of the work-product protection, the court will not order production of the reports

at this time. Linhares may, however, depose the investigators as to the underlying facts and

mechanics of the surveillance. The court suggests that the parties may be able to avoid the

expense of these depositions through the agreed upon production of any reports setting forth the

underlying facts and the mechanics of surveillance, with attorney work product redacted.

E. Depositions

Linhares seeks to take Defendant’s 30(b)(6) deposition and the depositions of eleven of

its employees. Defendant has agreed to four of these depositions,3 and objects to the remaining

eight.4 Linhares also seeks to take the depositions of two additional non-employee witnesses.5

Plaintiff asserts that the eight employees of the Steamship Authority at issue are

“crewmen, able bodied seamen, and/or maintenance personnel responsible for the condition of

the [V]essel.” Mot. to Compel 9 [Doc. No. 60]. Linhares contends that he expects the Steamship

Authority “will argue to the jury that there have been no other accidents, no other slipping

events, and/or no other complaints about the worn down non-skid surface of the [V]essel’s

[treads] . . . [and] [t]he depositions of these individuals [are] necessary to establish whether or

not this defense is factually accurate.” Id. The Steamship Authority contends that the additional

eight depositions sought would cause the total number of depositions conducted by Linhares to

exceed Rule 30(a)’s ten deposition limit without leave of court, and that Linhares failed to make

a particularized showing that he is entitled to the additional depositions. Opp’n 7-9 [Doc. No.

3 The parties have agreed on the depositions of Captain Duane, Mark Amundson, Phil Ricardo,

and the 30(b)(6) deposition. See Ex. D, Sept. 25, 2022 Email [Doc. No. 60-4]

4 The remaining eight employees are: Robert Stewart; Carl Walker; Josh Marshall; Stephen

Clifford; Neal Kanter; Philip Rabesa; Antonio Cruz; and William Shaw. Mot. to Compel 9 [Doc.

No. 60].

5 The non-employee witnesses are Kayliegh Beauregard and Janine Keneally. Mot. to Compel 3

[Doc. No. 60]. Linhares reports that the Steamship Authority contends the two are employed by

third parties and that Linhares has issued notices of depositions and subpoenas under Rule 45. Id.

Linhares asks further that “the Court compel this response” but does not identify what response

he seeks. Id. To the extent that Linhares seeks an order compelling Defendant’s response, the

motion does not provide a sufficient basis for any such order. To the extent that Linhares seeks

an order compelling the attendance of these subpoenaed individuals at their depositions, without

additional information the court cannot discern whether the two individuals’ responses to the

subpoenas are due, and cannot serve as a vehicle to compel the individuals provide information.

Accordingly, Linhares’s request as to those two individuals is denied without prejudice.

61]. The Steamship Authority also takes issue with Linhares’s contention that the eight

depositions are “necessary” to establish whether or not the Steamship Authority’s anticipated

defense is factually accurate where the responsibility to maintain the Vessel is not limited to

these eight individuals, information regarding whether or not there have been reports of other

slip and falls on the Vessel’s stairways or complaints concerning the stair treads could be

obtained in a more convenient and less burdensome manner, and that eight additional depositions

is disproportionate to the needs of this case as well as overly burdensome to Steamship

Authority. Id. at 9. The Steamship Authority does not discuss the request concerning the non-

employee depositions.

Rule 30(a)(2) provides, in pertinent part that: “[a] party must obtain leave of court, and

the court must grant leave to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(1) and (2) . . . if the parties

have not stipulated to the deposition and the deposition would result in more than 10 depositions

being taken under this rule . . . by the plaintiff[], or by the defendant[], or by third-party

defendants.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(A). “The party seeking to exceed the 10-deposition limit . .

. bears the burden of showing a need for the discovery.” Yourga v. City of Northampton, 2018

WL 1053532, at *3 (D. Mass. Feb. 26, 2018) “Another session of this court has explained that

‘the purpose of the limitation in the rule is to force counsel to think long and hard about who

they want to depose and to depose only those who are really important, so as to stay within the

limit set by the rule . . . . courts should not freely grant relief from the limits without a showing

of need.’” Id. (quoting S. F. Health Plan v. McKesson Corp., 264 F.R.D. 20, 21 (D. Mass.

2010)). “A court must limit the frequency of discovery when the discovery sought is

unreasonably cumulative or duplicative or can be obtained from some other more convenient,

less burdensome or less expensive source or when the proposed discovery is otherwise outside

the scope permitted by Rule 26(b)(2).” Id.

The court declines to limit Linhares to four depositions, as suggested by the Steamship

Authority, and will entertain a motion to compel up to a total of ten depositions if Linhares

identifies the ten deponents and the Steamship Authority declines to produce its employees or a

non-party deponent refuses to comply with a subpoena. To the extent that Linhares argues that

more than a total of ten depositions is necessary, the motion is denied where Linhares has failed

to make a particularized showing as to the relevance of the testimony of each individual

deponent. Moreover, to the extent that Linhares is seeking to compel the depositions of the non-

employee witnesses, Linhares has not provided any basis for this court to conclude that those

witnesses have not responded to the subpoena or are refusing to attend their noticed depositions,

that notice of the motion was served on them or that Linhares’s counsel has conferred or

attempted to confer with them in an effort to obtain their attendance without court action as

required under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1).

F. Dr. Siliski’s Report

Linhares also seeks to compel production of the Independent Medical Examination

(“IME”) from Dr. John Siliski’s examination of Linhares on September 14, 2022. Mot. to

Compel 9 [Doc. No. 60]. Under Rule 35(b)(1), in pertinent part, “[t]he party who moved for the

examination must, on request, deliver to the requester a copy of the examiner’s report . . . . The

request may be made by the party against whom the examination order was issued or by the

person examined.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 35(b)(1). The Steamship Authority informs the court that

Siliski’s IME report was produced to Linhares on December 12, 2022. See Dec. 13, 2022 Letter

[Doc. No. 62]. Thus, the court denies this request as moot.

III. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, Linhares’s Motion to Compel [Doc. No. 60] is GRANTED IN

PART and DENIED IN PART. Specifically,

• With respect to the Vessel’s construction plans and design approval, the motion is

denied.

• With respect to the Vessel’s certificates of inspection, the motion is denied for the

periods covering January 13, 2014, and earlier, but is granted as to the production

of certificates of inspection for the periods including January 13, 2015, to and

including January 13, 2020. The documents shall be produced no later than

January 3, 2023.

• With respect to the documents related to the Tread, including records of the order,

purchase, acquisition, installation, modification, replacement, and/or repairs, the

motion is granted and the documents shall be produced no later than January 3,

2023.

• With respect to the surveillance materials, to the extent the Steamship Authority

has produced all post-incident surveillance videos, it shall supplement its Rule 34

response to so state. The motion is granted as to any additional post-incident

surveillance videos and any video of the event that the Steamship Authority has

not yet produced. The Steamship Authority shall produce the photographs

concerning Linhares obtained on November 8, 2021, any further post-surveillance

video, and any video of the event no later than January 3, 2023.

• With respect to the depositions, the motion is denied without prejudice to a

renewed motion if Linhares is prevented from taking ten depositions.

• With respect to the IME report from Dr. John Siliski’s examination of Linhares,

the motions is denied as moot.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

December 16, 2022 /s/ Indira Talwani

United States District Judge

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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