Welch v. J Walter Thompson USA, Inc.

Plaintiff appeals as of right the dismissal with prejudice of his complaint for his failure to comply with a discovery order directing the production of plaintiffs joint tax returns. We affirm.

Plaintiff filed the underlying suit against defendants in April 1988, alleging wrongful discharge from his employment at J. Walter Thompson U.S.A., Inc. Because plaintiff claimed lost wages as part of his damages, defendants asserted that plaintiff’s actual efforts to mitigate those damages were crucial to their trial preparation. In an attempt to learn the full extent of plaintiff’s earnings,…