ROTTEN AT THE TOP –
June 24, 2021 – During that time, Special Master Cohen said, “The Delaware litigation was, of course, related to Walmart’s prescription policies, since shareholders sought (and obtained) access to corporate records relating to those policies. Walmart’s claim that its nationwide no-fill list is outside of the geographic scope of the MDL discovery order was fully inconsistent with the plain wording of (the order) and its animating logic.”
As a result, plaintiffs were allowed to depose two additional Walmart witnesses for one and a half hours each as a condition of the company’s sanction. The plaintiffs chose Director of Pharmacy Practice Compliance Deborah Mack, and McMillon.
Walmart immediately objected, calling the request “harassing on its face” and quoting a 2002 ruling by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker in the Southern District of Indiana in an MDL over Bridgestone tires which stated that “high level executives are vulnerable to numerous, repetitive, harassing, and abusive depositions.”
“All of these factors (in the referenced case, which ultimately allowed for the deposition of a top executive) weigh in favor of allowing McMillon’s deposition here,” Special Master Cohen wrote. “Plaintiffs offer evidence and colorable argument that McMillon has personal knowledge about and involvement in Walmart’s adoption and use of Blanket Refusals to Fill and Blocked Prescribers Lists.”
