Gonzalez

We are called upon in this case to balance competing interests. On one side of the scale is a plaintiff’s right to pursue a sexual harassment lawsuit uninhibited by concerns that her former employer will retaliate against other employees who are willing to help prove her case. On the other side is the employer’s right to discover the identity of a presently unnamed person who stole evidence related to the plaintiff’s lawsuit from the employer’s files and gave it to the plaintiff. We hold that the plaintiff, to tip the scales in her favor, must present some evidence (not mere speculation) that her fear of retaliation is justified. In this case, the plaintiff’s failure to present any proof at all compels a decision in favor of the employer.

Facts

Kimberly Gonzalez worked for the City of San Fernando Police Department as a radio dispatcher. After she left, she sued the City, its chief of police and others employed by its police department, alleging sexual harassment.

According to the complaint, the “harassment arose out of the display . . . in the men’s locker room of the police station of photographs of a semi-nude woman. . . .” The woman in the photographs bore a…

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 1541 OPINION We are called upon in this case to balance competing interests. On one side of the scale is a plaintiff's right to pursue a sexual harassment lawsuit uninhibited by concerns that her former employer will retaliate against other employees who are willing to help prove her case. On the other side is the employer's right to discover the identity of a presently unnamed person who stole evidence related to the plaintiff's lawsuit from the employer's files and gave it to the plaintiff. We hold that the plaintiff, to tip the scales in her favor, must present some evidence (not mere speculation) that her fear of retaliation is justified. In this case, the plaintiff's failure to present any proof at all compels a decision in favor of the employer. 1 FACTS Kimberly Gonzalez worked for the City of San Fernando Police Department as a radio dispatcher. After she left, she sued the City, its chief of police and others employed by its police department, alleging sexual harassment. According to the complaint, the "harassment arose out of the…

I reluctantly concur in the result. I agree generally with the substance of the lead opinion, which is that the identity of petitioner's "assistant" is discoverable and petitioner has failed to provide sufficient information to permit this court to ascertain that there is a real threat of improper retaliation to her source. While the identity of petitioner's "assistant" is not itself relevant to her charges, an opportunity to depose that individual could lead to evidence relevant to petitioner's credibility. That is enough — barely — to make it discoverable. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2017 , subd. (a).) I do feel, however, that the lead opinion makes some unwarranted conclusions, i.e., that department property was stolen from Sergeant Harvey's file and petitioner's "assistant" therefore "wrongfully appropriated evidence from his employer's files and turned it over to a coworker." (Maj. opn. ante, at p. 1553.) It is equally possible that the photographs are not evidence of *Page 1554 anything but petitioner's sexual harassment, do not belong to the department or Sergeant Harvey and were being hidden in the files to protect someone else until Sergeant Harvey or this other person had a…