Judge Rules Employment Records Are Relevant to Plaintiff's Loss of Consortium Claim

SEATTLE - The performance evaluations, documents pertaining to absence, and salary information contained in an individual's employment records are necessary to support the plaintiffs' loss of consortium claims, a federal judge ruled in a recent PPA products liability case. In re: Phenylpropanolamine Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1407 (W.D. Wash.).

U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein's Nov. 5 order denied plaintiffs Stacey and Peter Kerrigan's motion to quash the subpoenas that requested medical records pertaining to Stephen Kerrigan's sister and employment records of his father. However, Judge Rothstein required that the subpoena seeking the employment records of Peter Kerrigan should …