BARBARA L. MAJOR, Magistrate Judge.
Currently before the Court is Plaintiff's May 21, 2012 Motion for Leave to Take Immediate Discovery. ECF No. 5. Having read all papers filed in connection with Plaintiff's motion for expedited discovery, and having considered the issues raised therein, the Court
Plaintiff Gene Palermo asserts that he is an expert, consultant, and published author in the plastic piping industry. ECF No. 1 at 2. Plaintiff further explains that over the course of his career, he has published a number of papers and given numerous presentations highlighting the risks associated with fused PVC piping.
In 2012, Palermo discovered a website with the domain www.genepalermo.com.
Palermo subsequently discovered that the registered owner of the website domain is Defendant UGSI ("UGSI") and that its listed contact person is April Bushhorn, a UGSI employee. ECF No. 5-1 at 3, Exh. A. Palermo also alleges that UGSI distributed anonymous digital pamphlets to plastic pipe manufacturers and purchasers across the country, which describe Palermo as an "unqualified shill" with "no independent credibility." ECF No. 5-2 at 1, Exh. B. While the pamphlets were anonymous, Palermo discovered that the author was "bwalker" by uncovering the files' digital metadata.
On May 21, 2012, Palermo filed the instant action against UGSI. ECF No. 1. On that same date, Palermo also filed a motion for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, and the motion for expedited discovery currently pending before this Court. ECF Nos. 3 and 5. Palermo seeks an order allowing him to obtain documents and electronically stored information from UGSI regarding the creation of the website and pamphlet, as well as the depositions of April Bushhorn and Bob Walker. ECF No. 5 at 2-3. In support of his motion, Palermo asserts that early discovery is necessary to determine which persons at UGSI were responsible for the website and the pamphlet, the extent to which the pamphlet was published, and UGSI's motivation for disparaging Palermo's reputation.
A party may not seek discovery from any source before the Rule 26(f) conference unless that party first obtains a stipulation or court order permitting early discovery. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1). Courts in the Ninth Circuit apply the "good cause" standard in deciding whether to permit early discovery.
Palermo states that early discovery is required "to determine which persons at UGSI were responsible for the website and the pamphlet, the extent to which the pamphlet has been published, and, the motivation for the misappropriation of Plaintiff's name by Defendant for its domain and website and its motivation for the creation and publication of an anonymous pamphlet disparaging Plaintiff's professional reputation." ECF No. 5 at 3. Palermo also claims that "the information gleaned from this discovery will be further used to support [his] motion for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief."
While Plaintiff states that at least part of the reason for his early discovery request is to obtain information for his pending preliminary injunction motion, the facts do not support this statement. Palermo already has identified the registered owner of the www.genepalermo.com website as UGSI, and the contact person as April Bushhorn, a UGSI corporate officer. ECF No. 5-1 at 3, Exh. A. Palermo also has identified the author of the pamphlet as Bob Walker, a UGSI Vice President. ECF No. 5-3 at 1, Exh. C. Moreover, the Court has reviewed Palermo's motion for preliminary injunction and it only seeks to enjoin UGSI, not any individuals, from engaging in specific conduct and it does not identify any missing facts or need for discovery.
In addition, Palermo's discovery requests are excessively broad. For example, in his first request for production of documents, Palermo seeks "[a]ll documents and all electronically stored information of any type whatsoever related to the identity and address of anyone employed or retained by UGSI who was involved in any way with the concept, creation, content, authorship, implementation, publication, dates of publication, distribution, display in any format, dates of distribution, identities of recipients, creation of mailing lists (including electronic addresses and postal mailing addresses), payment of costs, payments of salary, payment of expenses related to the www.genepalermo.com website and domain."
For the foregoing reasons, Palermo has failed to show good cause for why early discovery should be permitted. Consequently, the Court