Premium Service Corporation v. The Sperry & Hutchinson Company, George A. Scott

Premium Service Corporation is engaged in antitrust litigation against the Sperry & Hutchinson Company (S&H) in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. S&H is charged with unlawfully monopolizing and attempting to monopolize segments of the trading stamp market. Premium Service is attémpting to show that, as part of this alleged scheme, S&H has offered one of its customers, Walker-Scott Corporation, millions of dollars in tie-in loans and other inducements. Walker-Scott operates a chain of department stores in Southern California. As part of its pre-trial discovery for the Minnesota litigation, Premium Service served a subpoena duces tecum on George A. Scott in San Diego, requiring production of documents pertaining to dealings between Walker-Scott and S&H. Scott is Chairman of the Board of Walker-Scott.

Scott submitted a motion to quash the subpoena to the district court for the Southern District of California. The court granted the motion in part, denying Premium Service’s demands for documents showing all payments from S&H to Walker-Scott, showing purchases of equity interests in Walker-Scott by S&H, and, very broadly, relating “in any way, to…