Cal. Court of Appeal Uphold Trial Court Disqualification of Employee's Attorney and Experts After Receipt of Privileged Material
On 3/17/25, in Johnson v. Dept. of Transportation, the California Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court order disqualifying the employee's attorney and retained experts, after the employee's supervisor shared work product (an email about the litigation) with the employee who then shared it with his attorney and several retained experts. The Court rejected the employee's arguments on appeal that the email was not protected or privileged, that the employer (Caltrans) waived any privilege through undue delay, and that the court abused its discretion in ordering disqualification.