Court Denies Motion to Compel Facebook Authorization Citing Insufficient Showing of Relevance

In Tompkins v. Detroit Metropolitan Airport, et. al. [pdf], No. 10-1-413 (E.D. Mich. Jan 18, 2012), U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen denied Defendant Northwest Airlines’ Motion to Compel Plaintiff to Execute Facebook Authorizations, holding that the defendant failed to demonstrate the plaintiff’s Facebook activity contained information relevant to the litigation. The court further held that the request for the entire account, which would contain voluminous irrelevant information, was woefully overbroad and amounted to a “fishing expedition.”

While the court agreed with the defendant that the information was not subject to claims of privacy or privilege, Judge Whalen was reluctant to authorize wholesale access to the plaintiff’s Facebook account absent a threshold showing that the requested information was reasonably calculated to lead to discoverable information.  See also McMillen v. Hummingbird Speedway Inc. [pdf], No. 113-2010 CD (Pa.Com.Pl. 2010) and Romano v. Steelcase, Inc. 2010 NY Slip Op 20388.  The court found the evidence submitted by the defendant, including photographs showing the plaintiff holding a small dog, were not inconsistent with her claimed injuries. The court denied the parties’ request for an in camera review of the plaintiff’s private Facebook postings noting that such reviews are generally limited to a determination of privilege and not relevance.