## Facts

- An employee and an advocacy organization (and its local chapter and members) brought an employment-discrimination suit alleging sex- and race-based discriminatory practices by a large multi-facility employer.
- Plaintiffs sought class-action certification on behalf of employees and applicants allegedly affected by the employer’s practices.
- Before class certification, plaintiffs moved to compel extensive nationwide discovery from the employer, seeking employment data spanning roughly 300 facilities and about 35,000 employees, with an estimated production cost of about $3 million.
- The employer opposed the request as overbroad, insufficiently tied to class-certification issues, and unduly burdensome.
- The employer filed a cross-motion to compel the advocacy organization to produce a complete membership list, including members’ names, sex, race, addresses, occupations, and current employers.
- Plaintiffs resisted the membership request, asserting associational privacy and arguing disclosure risked harassment and chilling members’ participation.

## Issues

1. Whether, at the pre-certification stage of a putative employment-discrimination class action, plaintiffs may compel nationwide discovery imposing extraordinary cost and burden, or whether discovery must be limited to information proportional and relevant to class certification.
2. Whether a defendant may compel an advocacy organization to disclose a comprehensive membership list and detailed member information, or whether First Amendment associational interests bar or limit such disclosure absent a sufficiently strong, narrowly tailored showing of need.

## Decision

- The court limited plaintiffs’ requested pre-certification discovery, finding the nationwide demands overbroad and unduly burdensome relative to the immediate class-certification inquiry.
- The court permitted only narrower, more targeted discovery tailored to information necessary to evaluate Rule 23 requirements.
- The court denied or substantially restricted the employer’s motion to compel production of the advocacy organization’s full membership list and detailed member information.
- The court concluded the employer’s asserted need did not justify the breadth and intrusiveness of the membership disclosure sought, given associational privacy concerns and potential chilling effects.

## Legal Principles

- Pre-certification discovery in a putative class action must be constrained to information relevant to class-certification issues and proportionate to the needs of that stage of the case.
- A showing that discovery might assist in exploring a “pattern” is insufficient, by itself, to justify sweeping nationwide production where the burden and cost are extreme and the request is not reasonably tailored to Rule 23 questions.
- Compelled disclosure of an advocacy organization’s membership identities implicates First Amendment associational interests and is subject to heightened scrutiny in civil discovery.
- Broad demands for membership rosters and detailed personal information require a strong, narrowly focused justification; courts should consider less intrusive alternatives when testing standing, adequacy, or other class-related contentions.

## Conclusion

The court balanced the parties’ competing discovery demands by restricting plaintiffs to targeted pre-certification discovery proportional to Rule 23 needs and by shielding the advocacy organization’s membership identities from broad compelled disclosure absent a sufficiently compelling, narrowly tailored showing.


Nat'l Org. for Women, Inc. v. Sperry Rand Corp., 88 F.R.D. 272 (D. Conn. 1980)