Wellpoint Health Networks, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County

Opinion

BARON, J.

In this case we are asked to resolve two issues: (1) whether a law firm’s prelitigation investigation into the circumstances surrounding the claims of an employee who may have suffered discriminatory treatment is protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or the attorney work product doctrine, and (2) if so, whether the employer waives these protections when it raises the investigation as a defense to the employee’s ensuing discrimination lawsuit. The trial court ruled that a prelitigation investigation of an employee’s discrimination claims did not result in…