Rivera v. NIBCO, Inc.

BEA, Circuit Judge, with whom Circuit Judges KOZINSKI, KLEINFELD and GOULD join,

dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc:

The panel’s decision allows a plaintiff who claims that racially discriminatory firing caused backpay and frontpay lost wages, to refuse to answer deposition questions touching on her place of birth and immigration status.

Thus, the panel’s decision impedes the ascertainment of the truth in advance of trial, thereby profoundly subverting the purposes of liberal Discovery in civil cases. The decision also frustrates the purposes of national Immigration policy: to limit…