Discovery Games In Child Abuse Suit.

An employer was sued for negligence in hiring, training, controlling and supervising a swim coach who “had a long history of molesting underage female swimmers placed under his control” and was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in state prison for molesting a 15-year-old swimmer.  Defendant asked for a protective order excluding documents pertaining to “swim coaches who have merely been alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct, but such allegations have not been proven. . .”  The court ordered production of all documents but permitted redaction of the names of the accused coaches.  Defendant obliterated all information indicating the dates, places, or nature of the complaints, preventing any analysis.  Finding no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s order of sanctions for failing to comply or in the trial court’s failing to hold an in camera inspection of the documents, the appellate court affirmed.  Jane Doe v. United States Swimming, Inc. (Cal. App. Sixth Dist.; November 21, 2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 1424.