The Ninth Circuit Reaffirms Federal Mediation Privilege
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Once again, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 501, federal privilege law applies to a claim of mediation confidentiality in an action involving both federal and state law claims.
In In Re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 14-15916 (filed September 1, 2016), the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s order denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment which sought to enforce a settlement agreement and remanded for further proceedings.
This anti-trust litigation was initiated by plaintiffs Sony Electronics, and Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC (collectively “Sony”) against Defendant HannStarr Display Corporation (“HannStarr”) alleging price fixing. In an attempt to resolve the dispute, the parties engaged a mediator, who, initially, was unable to help the parties reach a settlement. He then made a mediator’s proposal via e mail. Both parties accepted. However, Defendant HannStar refused to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement. So, Sony sued to enforce the agreement and moved by way of summary judgment to do so. The district court denied the motion holding that California’s Evidence Code sections on mediation confidentiality applied thereby precluding the admission into evidence of the settlement emails. The parties stipulated to a final judgment and this appeal ensued. (Id. at 3-7.)
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