Remington has subpoenaed for the academic, attendance and disciplinary records for five kids who were shot dead in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre after their families filed a lawsuit against the bankrupt gunmaker.
The subpoena was revealed in a court filing made by lawyers for the families of the five children seeking modifications to an order of protection in order to prevent the release of the records.
Remington also subpoenaed for the employment files of four educators who were killed during the horrific massacre, who are included in the lawsuit.
The nine families all lost family members when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.
They first filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Remington on December 15, 2014.
The case, which claims Remington recklessly marketed its Bushmaster Model XM15-E2S .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle, will go to trial this month.
Connecticut State Police Detective Barbara J. Mattson holds a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, the same make and model used by Adam Lanza in the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting
Veronique Pozner reacts with grief after learning that a gunman killed her son Noah at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012
Jackie Barden reacts with grief after learning that a gunman killed her son Daniel at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown
Law enforcement officers search outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012
The court filing, obtained by DailyMail.com, reads that ‘there is no conceivable way’ that the records requested by the gunmaker ‘will assist Remington in its defense.’
Remington had requested records including the application and admission paperwork, attendance records, transcripts, report cards, and disciplinary records among other records for the students.
‘The plaintiffs do not understand why Remington would invade the families’ privacy with such a request. Nonetheless, this personal and private information has been produced to Remington,’ the filing reads.
‘The plaintiffs therefore move the Court to expand the categories of protected information to include private educational, employment and medical records and information.’
The filing notes that only one category in the current protective order protects information disclosed by the parents.
Meanwhile, ‘the current protective order lists eight categories of protectable information. Seven of those eight categories are designed to protect Remington’s proprietary business information from disclosure.’
The families are also seeking to delete protections for Remington’s proprietary information that are ‘now obsolete’ because, as a lawyer for the gunmaker has conceded, the company ‘no longer exists.’
Josh Koskoff, the lead attorney for the families, told the Connecticut Post on Thursday that he has ‘no explanation’ for why Remington wants the academic and disciplinary records.
‘The only relevant part of their attendance records is that they were at their desks on December 14, 2012,’ Koskoff said.
The subpoena was revealed in a court filing made by lawyers for the families of the five children seeking modifications to an order of protection in order to prevent the release of the records
Lawyers for the families filed another document on Thursday noting that Remington ‘implemented a plan to dominate the firearms industry’
Thursday’s court filing notes that the subpoenas filed by Remington were sent to the Newtown Public School District in mid-July – just weeks before each of the nine families were offered a $3.6 million settlement.
Also in July, lawyers for the families accused Remington of sending them 18,465 ‘random cartoon images’ like icons emojis of ice cream bowls, Santa Claus and weight lifters as part of requested data.
‘Each of these images was produced six times, three times as a PNG file and three times as an SVG file,’ reads a July 2 filing.
Remington had also allegedly turned over 15,825 ‘random pictures’ including people riding go-karts and racing dirt bikes, as well as 1,657 videos depicting gender reveals and ice bucket challenge videos.
Lawyers for the families claimed in court documents in July that lawyers for Remington had sent them random graphics including pictures of ice cream bowls and Santa Claus
One of the random images sent by Remington to lawyers for the families is pictured
Another such image included a depiction of a minion from the children’s film Despicable Me sliced into filets with the caption: ‘filet minion.’
Other images allegedly sent by Remington include a couple holding hands, left, and a farmer with a pitchfork
Another such image included a depiction of a minion from the children’s film Despicable Me sliced into filets with the caption: ‘filet minion.’
Through years of legal proceedings, Remington has claimed that it made and sold its weapons legally and so should not be held liable for the deaths of the children and teachers.
The defense for the gunmaker, which was dissolved in bankruptcy court and its assets sold to various companies, is currently being handled by four insurance companies.
Koskoff said in a statement last month that Ironshore and James River, the two insurance companies that had offered settlements, ‘deserve credit for now realizing that promoting the use of AR-15s as weapons of war to civilians is indefensible.’
‘Insuring this kind of conduct is an unprofitable and untenable business model.’