A federal magistrate judge has ruled that Kobe Bryant’s widow must turn over her private therapy records to Los Angeles County as part of her lawsuit against the county over photos of her dead husband and daughter.
In the Monday ruling, Charles Eick ordered Vanessa Bryant and her therapist to produce the documents by Nov. 29. He also ordered her to turn over records dating to January 2017 after the county had asked for her records dating to January 2010.
“The requests are plainly relevant to the claims and defenses herein and, as narrowed by this order, the requests are proportional to the needs of the case,” Eick wrote in his ruling.
Bryant is suing the county for invasion of privacy, alleging that county first responders improperly shared photos of human remains from a helicopter crash last year that killed nine, including the NBA legend and her daughter. She is seeking damages from the county because she claims to have suffered emotional distress because of it.
But the county is fighting back by suggesting that her emotional distress was caused by the deaths of her family members and not anything that county sheriff’s and fire department workers did with photos afterward.
To defend itself on this point, the county asked the judge to grant its request to obtain her therapy records as the case heads to trial in February. The county claims no photos were publicly disseminated beyond isolated incidents at a bar and an awards show event.
Bryant’s attorney fought the request, saying it came too late and further invaded Bryant’s privacy.
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