Backfisch v. Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION
BREANNA BACKFISCH, 	)
)
Plaintiff, 	)
)
vs. 	) 	Case No. 1:24-cv-00213-SNLJ
)
PENSKE TRUCK LEASING 	)
CO., L.P. et al., 	)
)
Defendants. 	)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’s motions to compel directed to
defendant Federal Express Corporation [Doc. 84] and defendants Bahromov, Trucking
Times, and Penske Truck Leasing Co., LP [Doc. 87]. Federal Express Corporation has
opposed the motion [Doc. 104]. Bahromov, Trucking Times, and Penske Truck Leasing
Co., L.P. have not filed an opposition to the motion to compel, and the deadline to do so
has passed. See E.D.Mo. L.R. 4.01(B).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(3)(B) allows a party seeking discovery to
move for an order to compel if “a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under
Rule 33” and/or “a party fails to produce documents or fails to respond that inspection will
be permitted – or fails to permit inspection – as requested under Rule 34.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
37(a)(3)(B).
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I. 	MOTION TO COMPEL DIRECTED TO DEFENDANTS BAHROMOV,
TRUCKING TIMES, AND PENSKE TRUCK LEASING CO., LP
As it relates to defendants Bahromov, Trucking Times, and Penske Truck Leasing
Co., L.P., the Court will direct those defendants to serve full and substantive responses and
complete document production to plaintiff’s outstanding discovery requests within 14 days.
II. 	MOTION TO COMPEL DIRECTED TO DEFENDANT FEDERAL
EXPRESS CORPORATION
As it relates to defendant Federal Express Corporation, the parties’ briefs indicate
that Federal Express Corporation has produced responsive documents to Request for
Production No. 24. Any further dispute as to the completeness of that production will
require additional good faith efforts and discussions in an attempt to resolve any continuing
discovery dispute as required by Rule 37(a) and Local Rule 3.04 prior to any subsequent
motion to compel. As such, plaintiff’s motion to compel directed to defendant Federal
Express Corporation regarding Request for Production No. 24 is denied.
As it relates to Request for Production No. 20, Federal Express Corporation
indicates that it “is still in the process of determining what documents may be responsive to
Plaintiff’s Request No. 20 and intends to fully respond within the agreement to limit the
Request to the policies, practices, or procedures in effect leading up to the crash.” [Doc.
104]. Since September 2025, plaintiff has been requesting responses to Request No. 20. In
an effort to alleviate Federal Express Corporation’s objection to Request No. 20, plaintiff
even agreed to limit the scope of the request to those policies, practices, and procedures in
effect on the date of the incident. [Doc. 84-2]. Since that time, Federal Express
Corporation has still failed to produce any responsive documents to plaintiff’s Request No.
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20. Further, Federal Express Corporation has failed to request additional time from
opposing counsel or this Court to produce the relevant documents responsive to plaintiff’s
Request No. 20. Federal Express Corporation does not now get to delay even further by
indicating it “is still in the process of determining what documents may be responsive…”
[Doc. 104]. As such, plaintiff’s motion to compel directed to Federal Express Corporation
regarding Request for Production No. 20 is granted. Federal Express Corporation shall
serve full and substantive responses and complete document production to plaintiff’s
Request No. 20 within 14 days.
III. 	CONCLUSION
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to compel directed to defendant
Federal Express Corporation [Doc. 84] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
Federal Express Corporation shall provide full and substantive responses and complete
document production to plaintiff’s Request No. 20 within 14 days.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion to compel directed to
defendants Bahromov, Trucking Times, and Penske Truck Leasing Co., LP [Doc. 87] is
GRANTED, and defendants shall provide full and substantive responses and complete
document production to plaintiff’s discovery requests within 14 days.
SO ORDERED this 11th day of December, 2025.
STEPHEN N. LIMBAUGH, JR.
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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