Boler

Petitioner Marc Boler is a defendant in a workplace sexual harassment suit brought by his former employee, plaintiff/real party in interest Shu-Yuan Everett. By this petition for extraordinary relief, Boler seeks to set aside an order of the superior court compelling him to answer certain deposition questions concerning his sexual activity with unnamed women not parties to the lawsuit. Because the order is an unjustified over-broad intrusion into the sexual privacy of Boler and his unnamed sexual partners, we issue the requested writ.

Everett’s unverified complaint names as defendants Boler, his accounting partnership Christensen, Boler & Company (Company), and Boler’s copartners Robert Christensen and Andrew Suihkonen. The complaint alleges that Everett was hired September 5, 1984, as a staff accountant for Company. On March 29, 1985, Boler, a general partner, allegedly requested that Everett “work under [his] personal guidance and supervision.” On April 7, Boler allegedly “forced himself sexually on plaintiff,” who attempted to resist, but “ultimately yielded to defendant Boler for fear that if she did not she would lose her job.” Between April 1985 and September 1985,…