Regents

FACTS

Respondent Shirley Lappi sustained a workplace injury in 2003 while working as an administrative assistant for the University of California at Irvine and she filed a claim against the University for workers’ compensation benefits. In 2007, Lappi made a claim for additional workers’ compensation based on an aggravation of her initial injury. Lappi noticed the deposition of the Sedgwick claims examiner assigned to her case and sought production of all unprivileged documents pertaining to her case, including Sedgwick’s claims file.

2 After the University moved to quash the deposition, the workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) ordered the claims examiner to make himself available for deposition at one of two alternative locations and to “produce all non-privileged portions of the claims file.” The University then produced a privilege log, identifying certain documents contained in its file as exempt from disclosure under “one or more privileges recognized by California Evidence Code.” The privilege log was drafted by counsel representing both Sedgwick and the University, and identified, among other things, correspondence between Sedgwick and counsel, counsel’s “invoices” and…