DeBlase

Josefa DeBlase petitions for a peremptory writ of mandate after the trial court referred a discovery motion to a private referee over her objection that she could not afford to pay any portion of the referee’s fee.

Petitioner was injured at work while using a power press. She received workers’ compensation benefits and sued both the distributor and the manufacturer of the press.

Hoffman Brothers, Inc., an Illinois firm, was the distributor. J. Sandt Aktiengesellschaft, a German firm, was the manufacturer. In 1970 Sandt had sold the press to Hoffman, F.O.B. Hamburg.

Hoffman answered petitioner’s complaint. Sandt specially appeared to contest personal jurisdiction. Petitioner obtained a continuance of the hearing to undertake discovery concerning the jurisdiction issue.

Petitioner served documents requests on both defendants. She asked for all purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading, catalogs, advertisements, and correspondence related to Sandt power presses of any model, anywhere in the world, for a 28-year period.

Hoffman objected to these requests as broad, vague, ambiguous, irrelevant, burdensome, and oppressive; it produced nothing. The usual ensuant exchange…