Judge says families’ demands from Remington are ‘fair game’

NEWTOWN — A judge has ruled that information 10 Sandy Hook families are seeking from Remington in a wrongful death lawsuit are “fair game,” and Remington must “act in good faith” to provide it.

“The obligation to act in good faith and provide documents within their knowledge, possession, or power rests on (Remington), and it is fair game for the (families) to discover whether the defendants met their obligations,” wrote Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis in a ruling on Tuesday.

The ruling sends the nation’s oldest gunmaker back to the negotiating table with lawyers for nine families who lost loved ones and a teacher who was shot in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, as the two sides prepare for a 2021 trial.

Tuesday’s ruling against Remington represents the families’ latest victory in their 6year battle charging the maker of the AR-15style rifle used in the shooting with reckless marketing, in violation of Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.

In mid-June, Bellis permitted the families’ attorneys to question the gunmaker’s executives under oath about its internal organization and procedures — questions which Remington considered invasive and improper.

Bellis’ ruling on Tuesday stems from a dispute between the two sides over Remington’s objection to naming every person the company has contacted for “any statements, documents, and/or communication concerning the December 14, 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, including statements, documents, and/or communications concerning responses to the shooting and/or the shooter” from the time of the shooting through December 31, 2016.”

“(Remington’s) obligation in responding to requests for documents is to make reasonable searches for responsive documents,” Remington’s attorneys argued in a July 13 brief to Bellis. “That is what (Remington has) done and will continue to do in responding to … each of (the families’) more than 70 separate requests for documents, which to date has resulted in production of tens of thousands of documents, consisting of more than 100,000 pages.”