From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Ramsey v. New York University Hospital Center

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 6, 2005
14 A.D.3d 349 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)

Opinion

4954N, 4954NA

January 6, 2005.

Orders, Supreme Court, New York County (Marilyn Shafer, J.), entered on or about February 13, 2004 and June 9, 2004, which, in an action for employment discrimination based on disability and age, granted plaintiff's motions for protective orders quashing defendants' subpoena to take the deposition of plaintiff's treating psychiatrist, and directed that defendants' psychiatrist perform his psychiatric evaluation of plaintiff in the presence of her attorney, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Before: Marlow, J.P., Williams, Gonzalez, Sweeny and Catterson, JJ.


Defendants seek the deposition of plaintiff's treating psychiatrist, who has not yet been designated an expert witness, in order to clarify the meaning of certain handwritten notes he made of conversations he had with plaintiff's supervisor, a defendant herein, before plaintiff's termination. Apparently, the notes were included among medical records that were delivered to defendants in the course of disclosure. A protective order against this deposition was properly granted since plaintiff's psychiatrist's testimony is not the only means of discovering the tenor of the conversations constituting the subject matter of the notes. It is not the norm to seek the deposition of a treating physician, and it should not generally be directed unless necessary to prove a fact unrelated to diagnosis and treatment ( cf. Schroder v. Consolidated Edison Co., 249 AD2d 69; Moore v. Columbia-Presbyterian Med. Ctr., NYLJ, Sept. 2, 1999, at 27, col 1). Concerning defendants' psychiatric evaluation of plaintiff, a party to a civil action is generally entitled to have his or her attorney present during a physical examination conducted at its opponent's demand by its physician, provided that the attorney does not unduly interfere with the examination ( see Jakubowski v. Lengen, 86 AD2d 398). We see no reason why the same rule should not apply to a psychiatric evaluation ( cf. Matter of Alexander L., 60 NY2d 329).


Summaries of

Ramsey v. New York University Hospital Center

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 6, 2005
14 A.D.3d 349 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)
Case details for

Ramsey v. New York University Hospital Center

Case Details

Full title:GLORIA CHANDLER RAMSEY, Respondent, v. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CENTER…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Jan 6, 2005

Citations

14 A.D.3d 349 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)
789 N.Y.S.2d 104

Citing Cases

Tower Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. Hong Kong Supermarket, Inc.

. See Ramsey v. New York Univ. Hosp. Ctr., 14 A.D.3d 349, 350 (1st Dep't 2005). As Angelides sets forth in…

Escobar v. GFC Fifth Ave. Owner, LLC

However, CPLR 3103 provides that the court may make a protective order "denying, limiting, conditioning or…