Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation over the nationwide opioid epidemic can depose Walmart Inc CEO Doug McMillon over the company's objection, a federal court special master has ruled.
issued Wednesday, Special Master David Cohen in the Northern District of Ohio, who is overseeing discovery matters in the sprawling litigation, said there was reason to believe McMillon had personal knowledge relevant to the case. Walmart can still ask U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is presiding over the MDL, to override the ruling.
The plaintiffs' request to depose McMillon arose from a sanction order against Walmart for failing to timely produce discovery. That discovery included a PowerPoint slide the company presented to the U.S. Department of Justice while it was being investigated, and nationwide records of its pharmacists' so-called "Blanket Refusals to Fill" prescriptions from certain prescribers, as well as a companywide Blocked Prescribers List.
Cohen, however, noted that Barker in that case went on to allow the deposition of Ford Motor executive William Ford on the grounds that the plaintiffs had presented evidence that Ford possessed relevant information and that conduct of high-level executives was relevant to the case.
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