NHCaseLaw.com

The plaintiff, William D. Totherow, a long time professor of chemistry at defendant Rivier College, was discharged from his employment in 2003. Claiming that his discharge was improper, Totherow thereafter instituted this action against the college and two of its officials, President William J. Farrell and Academic Vice President Therese Larochelle. The writ contains counts for breach of contract, violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, defamation, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and enhanced compensatory damages. Plaintiff Barbara Totherow, the wife of William, also has made a claim for loss of consortium. Presently before the court is plaintiffs’ motion for an order authorizing their counsel to conduct ex parte interviews (i.e., without prior notice to the defendants) of “lower echelon employees [of Rivier College] who are not representatives of the organization.”[1] For the reasons stated below, I grant the motion in part and deny it in part.