Court Forces Production of Settlement Agreements in Benzene Case
Yesterday, the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont, Texas conditionally granted mandamus relief in Thompson v. Univar; a benzene/leukemia case. In the trial court Univar had moved to compel the production of settlement agreements. Discovery of such settlement agreements are seemingly expressly called for by Texas’ Rule of Civil Procedure 192.3(g). Nevertheless, some courts routinely refuse to compel their disclosure and that’s what happened here.
Plaintiffs had objected to the disclosure of the settlement agreements stating that they were subject to confidentiality clauses. Plaintiffs did agree to disclose, in aggregate, the total amount of money agreed to be paid by the settling defendants. Without reviewing the agreements the trial court accepted plaintiff’s representation and denied Univar’s motion to compel.
The appeal drew several amicus briefs, including some from former parties which had settled with plaintiffs, that argued against disclosure of settlement agreements.
Holding a plain reading of our discovery rules demonstrates that such agreements are discoverable; that they are additionally discoverable so as to uncover any potential bias on the part of any witness (e.g. agreements to cooperate or not cooperate); and that they ought to be timely discovered, the court of appeals ordered that the agreements be disclosed by the end of the week.
Trial begins Monday in Beaumont.
