Kientzy v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.

The McDonnell Douglas Corporation (McDonnell Douglas) (defendant) employed Mary Kientzy (plaintiff) as a security officer. A disciplinary committee decided to terminate Kientzy’s employment. Kientzy went to McDonnell Douglas’s corporate ombudsman, Therese Clemente, to discuss the situation. Nonetheless, McDonnell Douglas moved forward with the termination. According to Kientzy, Clemente received other information about the committee’s decision from other employees, including one committee member who later died. After McDonnell Douglas terminated her employment, Kientzy sued the company for gender discrimination under state and federal statutes. During the litigation, Kientzy sought to depose Clemente. As the corporate ombudsman, Clemente mediated workplace disputes between employers and management confidentially. Indeed, Clemente was bound by the Code of Ethics issued by the Corporate Ombudsman Association, which required her to maintain confidentiality. Similarly, McDonnell Douglas’s management repeatedly represented to employees that communications with Clemente were to be confidential. The office of the ombudsman had received approximately 4,800 communications since 1985. In response to Kientzy’s attempt to depose her, Clemente moved for a protective order that would prohibit any discovery of communications she received in her position as corporate ombudsman. Kientzy responded that the information was relevant and discoverable.