Mitchell v. Roma’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

33 federal appellate · 11 district · 3 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 72 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It must be kept in mind that the issue in this case is whether the defendants failed to pay proper wages to one or more of its employees; the issue is not whether there was a statutory failure in regard to persons, employees or not, who have given written statements to the representatives of the plaintiff. Thus the question is narrowed down to whether the disclosure sought by the defendants is essential to assure a fair determination of the issues, with due regard being given to the defendants’ right to prepare their defense properly. We conclude that the defendants’ interest in being illumined as to informers is not strong enough to overcome the privilege in this instance. While we recognize that the discovery rules apply to actions in which the United States is a party, 4 Moore, Fed.Prac. ¶¶[ 26.05, 26.25 [2] and that a trial is not a game of blindman’s buff, Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 46 , 68 S.Ct. 391 , 92 L.Ed. 468 we cannot overlook the fact that the modern discovery rules do not abolish the policy of withholding information based on a claim of privilege.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Mitchell v. Neylon · Wirtz v. Moore

2. “* * * The relationship between an employer and an employee is a sensitive one. * * * The statutory prohibition against retaliation provides little comfort to an employee faced with the possibility of subtle pressures by an employer, which pressures may be so difficult to prove when seeking to enforce the prohibition.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Brennan v. Engineered Products, Inc. · Does Thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corporation

3. ““The courts should be solicitous to protect against disclosures of the identity of informers. (Citing case.) “The purpose of the privilege is the furtherance and protection of the public interest in effective law enforcement. The privilege recognizes the obligation of citizens to communicate their knowledge of violations of law to law-enforcement officials and, by preserving their anonymity, encourages them to perform that obligation. (Citing case.) “However, the privilege must give way where the disclosure of an informer’s identity * * * is essential to a fair determination of a cause, * * *. As it is put in the Model Code and Uniform Rules, supra, the privilege exists unless the judge finds that the disclosure of the informer’s identity is essential to assure a fair determination of the issues.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Bocchicchio v. Curtis Publishing Co.