Houghton
Houghton v. M & F Fishing, Inc.
Opinion
lead Opinion
Stiven, J.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO COMPEL MENTAL EXAMINATION
A hearing on Defendants’ Motion to Compel a Mental Examination of the Plaintiff, Thomas H. Houghton, came on regularly for hearing in Courtroom E of the above-entitled Court on December 28, 2000. Defendants submitted an informal letter brief on December 24, 2000. Plaintiff submitted an opposition brief on December 20, 2000. Defendants submitted a reply brief on December 22, 2000. Having considered the briefs submitted by the parties and after hearing oral argument, the Court denies Defendants’ Motion to Compel a Mental Examination of Plaintiff for reasons set forth below:
A. GENERAL PRINCIPLES UNDER FRCP 35.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 35 governs physical and mental examinations of parties and provides in relevant part as follows:
As with all discovery in the Federal Court system, Rule 35 should be construed broadly. However, physical or mental examinations under Rule 35 are treated differently than other discovery methods, e.g. interrogatories, depositions, requests for production of documents. While still subject to the limiting provisions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b) which apply to all discovery, Rule 35 examinations require an…