United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND Case No. 19-cv-01391-CRB (AGT)

EXCHANGE COMMISSION,

Plaintiff, DISCOVERY ORDER v. Re: Dkt. No. 104

VOLKSWAGEN

AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, et al., Defendants.

VW must produce Thorsten Duesterdiek for a deposition. Duesterdiek is a “managing agent” of VW. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(d)(1)(A)(i). * * * A corporate litigant, like VW, can be compelled to produce one or more of its officers, directors, or managing agents to sit for a deposition at the request of the opposing party. To de- termine if a proposed witness is a managing agent, courts often consider the following factors:

(1) whether the individual is invested with general powers allowing him to exercise judgment and discretion in corporate matters; (2) whether the individual can be relied upon to give testimony, at his employer’s request, in response to the demand of the examining party; (3) whether any person or persons are employed by the cor- porate employer in positions of higher authority than the individual designated in the area regarding which information is sought by the examination; and (4) the…