Yvonne Mitchell, a sanitation worker employed with Aramark Management Services, lost her index finger during an accident at work and filed a lawsuit for workers' compensation benefits. Aramark petitioned for a writ of mandamus to deny Mitchell's request for personnel records of current and/or former employees.
The court concluded that the lower court exceeded its discretion by summarily ordering Aramark to produce the requested personnel files without prior explanation from Mitchell. The Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama granted Aramark's petition in part, clarified that this should not be seen as a blanket prohibition of personnel files production - instead, relevancy has to be proven in order to gain access to such files, and instructions were given for proper procedures in future scenarios.