A new judge may soon step in to oversee discovery in a Youngsville couple's state lawsuit accusing D.R. Horton of building defective houses that can't withstand Louisiana's blistering heat.
Alicia and Wes Dixon are nearly two years into a legal battle that seeks damages for mold and humidity issues they've endured in a home they purchased from the Texas-based developer in 2014. They're seeking class-action status, which could open the lawsuit to hundreds of other homeowners across the state whose homes were built by D.R. Horton.
As the case enters the discovery phase, lawyers from both sides consented Friday to the appointment of a special master, 19th Judicial District Court records show. Chief District Judge Donald Johnson, who's presiding over the case, is to select a magistrate judge to referee the contentious wrangling over internal company documents that the plaintiffs are seeking from D.R. Horton to build their case.
D.R. Horton has argued the matter should be settled in federal arbitration and there should be a confidentiality agreement in place to protect the public leaking of private and proprietary information throughout the discovery process.
The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Lance Unglesby, suggested the appointment of a special magistrate when lawyers argued a host of motions before Judge Johnson on Feb. 20. James Brown, the New Orleans attorney spearheading D.R. Horton's defense, told the judge during the court hearing he'd discuss the plan with his clients.
On Friday, Johnson signed off on a consent order poised to refer the discovery issues to a special master. Both sides will have until March 8 to come to agreement on the appointment or propose up to two options to Judge Johnson. The chief judge would then make the final selection, according to the consent order.
From the outset, D.R. Horton’s attorneys have argued any courtroom is an improper venue for the case to be settled. Instead, they say a binding contract the Dixons signed twice when they purchased their home puts the dispute under an arbiter’s purview.
“Just because they say D.R. Horton is bad doesn’t make it so,” Brown said at last week's hearing. “Just because they contend that D.R. Horton engaged in these supposed practices doesn’t make it so. We vigorously deny it and we’re prepared to show that to the arbitrator.”
The Dixons are challenging the validity of the arbitration agreement. Alleging D.R. Horton trained its sales teams to use coercive and misleading tactics to dupe thousands of homeowners to buy defective homes along the Interstate 10 corridor, plaintiff attorneys intend to use corporate documents to show a pattern of deception by company officials.
The couple’s attorneys have indicated arbitration is a much more expensive playing field than state court. They also contend it's historically less favorable to individuals who take legal action against powerful corporations.
Johnson has yet to make a final ruling on the arbitration. In December 2022, the chief judge ordered D.R. Horton to give the Dixons all “corporate, divisional and local” sales-related documents and training manuals that could serve as pertinent evidence in their arbitration challenge.
On Feb. 12, D.R. Horton responded to the plaintiffs' request for marketing and advertising transcripts, sales and training documents, annual reports and policy manuals. Court records show the company's legal team objected to “each and every” one of the Dixons’ 88 discovery requests, describing them as “vague, overly broad, ill-defined, and/or unduly burdensome.” D.R. Horton attorneys argued the requests sought information outside the “limited scope” of Johnson’s discovery mandates, as well as documents that were immune to discovery because of attorney-client privilege.
The Dixons are asking the company to turn over discovery materials from 2007 to the present. During the Feb. 20 hearing, Brown lobbied for a confidentiality agreement that would keep the plaintiffs from publicly releasing internal corporate documents determined to be confidential or proprietary.
Brown insisted discovery should be limited to the timeframe between 2007 and 2014, when the Dixons bought their house. He argued anything after the home purchase has no impact on the case.
“What we’re saying, judge, is let’s just be reasonable,” Brown said. “If we limit discovery to eight years, we limit it to Louisiana, and we cut out document requests that have nothing to do with sales practices, we’re in agreement.”
The plaintiffs' lawyers disagreed with that proposal, calling it yet another tactic to slow down the discovery process. They argued documents that outline sales tactics aren’t confidential, and scoffed at the notion that D.R. Horton is trying to protect any proprietary information.
“If you order this, what will happen next is litigation and there will be more delays,” Unglesby said.
The Dixons agreed to withdraw their discovery motion and D.R. Horton will do away with its request for a confidentiality agreement in lieu of Friday's consent order.
Unglesby told Johnson a special master was appointed to oversee discovery in an ongoing lawsuit that a different family filed against D.R. Horton more than four years ago in Lafayette Parish. Earlier this month, District Judge Kristian Earles approved a report from the special magistrate that could force D.R. Horton to turn over internal documents for all homes the company built in Slidell, East Baton Rouge, Orleans and 12 other parishes along the Interstate 10 corridor dating back to 2008, 15th Judicial District Court records show.
Unglesby expressed no qualms during Tuesday's hearing when Johnson asked if he planned to use the discovery documents for public consumption. Unglesby turned and pointed to an Advocate reporter sitting in the courtroom and told the judge thousands of Louisiana homeowners living with mold and humidity issues have a vested interest in the “high-profile case.”
“This blanket confidentiality is going to delay things because they’re going to want to look at every single document,” he cautioned. “I know we’re going to be fighting over every, little inch because I’ve been through it already.
“There’s a lot going on here. There are a lot of people being injured and we’re in a hurry,” Unglesby added moments later.