American Brake Shoe Company

Text (OCR of the scan; may contain errors)

AMERICAN BRAKE SHOE COMPANY

Docket 8622. Order, Dec. 9, 1965 Order granting respondent's appeal from hearing examiner's order excluding from six subpoenas certain data relating to competitive mechanical systems of braking employing friction materials.

ORDER GRANTING IKTERLOCGTORY Appeal This matter is before the Commission upon respondent' s appeal pursuant to S 3. 17(1) of the Commission's Rules of Practice from six orders of the hearing examiner, filed November 24, 1965, limiting the areas of inquiry under subpoenas ad testificandum issued on behalf of the respondent. The orders appealed from involve Clevite Corporation, Massey-Ferguson, Inc., Galion Iron Works & Mfg. Company, General Electric Company, Cincinnati Shaper Company and Sperry-Rand Company. Complaint counsel has fied a brief opposing the appeal.

The precise question is whether or not it was error for the examiner to exclude from the area of inquiry matter concerning aUeged competition among mechanical systems employing "friction materials to transmit, convert and retard motion and other systems which assertedly perform the same functions. Respondent asserts that the examiner's exclusion of the "competing systems" evidence was solely due to his determination that such evidence is not relevant. It is claimed that no suggestion was made that such inquiries would be unduly burdensome or that they would unduly delay the proceeding. The hearing examiner, as we have pointed out in a previous order in this matter, has a broad discretion in the matter of discovery and that, except by a clear showing of an error in that discretion, the Commission will sustain him in his rulings. (Order Denying Appeal from Denial of Applications for Depositions and Subpoenas, issued September 1, 1965 (p. 1169 hereina. ) In this instance, though the relevance of the information sought is in controversy, where delay is apparently not an issue, where only six depositions already authorized are involved and where the request concerns only a "limited extension of the areas to be covered in the scheduled depositions, we believe the examiner was unduly strict in his rulings. Accordingly,

It is ordered That respondent's appeal from the examiner's orders filed November 24, 196.5, be, and it hereby is, granted.

It is further ordered That the hearing examiner, as to the authorized depositions herein, grant the respondent's request to inquire into the subject of "competing systems " provided that this wil not result in a delay in the hearings now set to begin no later than January 4, 1966.