High Court Rules Discovery Requests Overbroad, Orders Discovery Limitations

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court has granted a writ of prohibition petition filed by Ford Motor Co., ruling that discovery requests served on the asbestos defendant were overbroad and burdensome. Ford Motor Co., et al. v. The Honorable W. Stephen Nixon, et al., No. SC86365 (Mo. Sup. Ct.).

In an April 26 order, the high court ruled that discovery requests without temporal, geographic or subject matter limitations are overly broad and do not impose reasonable parameters.

Former Ford Motor employee Roy Dietiker filed the instant lawsuit, claiming that his exposure to defective products containing asbestos caused his …