State ex rel. Madlock v. O'Malley

WILLIAM RAY PRICE, Jr., Chief Justice.

An authorization form for the inspection of a personal injury plaintiffs employment records, unlimited to matters put in issue by the petition, is overbroad. A protective order limiting disclosure of such records only to the parties, witnesses, attorneys and staff in the litigation is inadequate because it allows disclosure of irrelevant personal information to adverse parties. If the parties cannot agree to the proper scope of an authorization form or if the scope of the authorization cannot be appropriately limited by court order, an in camera…