Metalworking MacH., Inc. v. Superior Court of L.A. Cty.

Opinion

BEACH, J.

Proceeding in mandate to require respondent .court to vacate its order sustaining certain objections to requests for admissions, and to enter a new and different order overruling said objections. We granted an alternative writ.

Facts:

On August 2, 1972, real party Davalos sustained traumatic amputation of the fingers and thumb of the right hand while operating a punch press machine. In July 1973, he filed an action against his employer and others, sounding in negligence, breach of warranty and products liability. Concerning damages, there is an allegation that plaintiff will suffer future loss of earnings.

In March of 1976, petitioner filed a demand for statement of damages pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 425.11, and on April 2, 1976, Davalos filed his response indicating general damages of $200,000, past loss of earnings of $20,500, and future loss of earnings of $266,770.

In December of 1976, petitioner filed requests for admissions

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directed to Davalos, and Davalos set a hearing on his objections

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to those requests for January 14, 1977. The requests for admissions are, in effect, directed to the basis of computation of loss of future earnings. Petitioner either knows or suspects that Davalos entered the United States illegally, has not been granted permanent resident status, has no Green Card, and is subject to deportation at any time. These suspicions appear to be substantiated in part by Davalos’ deposition. It follows logically,

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petitioner says, that projected loss of future earnings must be based upon the wage scale and availability of employment in the country of citizenship and not upon those in the country where Davalos is, allegedly, an illegal alien.

The objections to the requests for admissions are stated upon, four grounds: (1) that the requests call for privileged information; (2) that the requests are irrelevant “to the issues”; (3) that the requests are harassing; and (4) that the requests are propounded in bad faith. In its order of January 14, 1977, the superior court sustained the objections without giving any reason for its ruling.