Free Order - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:01-cv-00495-EGB

Document 298

Filed 10/26/2007

Page 1 of 2

In the United States Court of Federal Claims
No. 01-495C (Filed: October 26, 2007)

*********************** KENT CHRISTOFFERSON, et al. Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. *********************** ERRATA Please substitute the attached page for the first page of the court's opinion filed on October 25, 2007.

s/ Eric G. Bruggink ERIC G. BRUGGINK Judge

Case 1:01-cv-00495-EGB

Document 298

Filed 10/26/2007

Page 2 of 2

In the United States Court of Federal Claims
No. 01-495C (Filed: October 26, 2007) ********************** KENT CHRISTOFFERSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. **********************
Jack W. Lee, San Francisco, CA, with whom was Hugo A. Zia, also of San Francisco, CA, for plaintiffs. Steven J. Gillingham, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Washington, DC, with whom were Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, and Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, for defendant. Rayna G. Eller, Bureau of the Census, of counsel.

Motion for Protective Order; RCFC 26(b)(1); Attorney-Client Privilege; Work Product Doctrine.

OPINION BRUGGINK, Judge. This is a pay case brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (2000), and the Federal Employee Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 5541-5550a (2000), by thousands of former employees of the United States Bureau of the Census ("Bureau") for unpaid overtime hours worked during the 2000 Decennial Census. Pending now is plaintiffs' motion for a protective order. Plaintiffs seek protection, primarily based on an asserted attorney-client privilege, from discovery of questionnaires mailed to individual plaintiffs, completed, and returned to plaintiffs' counsel. The matter is fully briefed. Oral argument was heard on October 19, 2007. We