On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an order granting Chick-fil-A’s petition for a writ of prohibition, preventing a lower court from enforcing a discovery order related to a lawsuit filed by the parents of a deceased child.
The case revolves around a tragic incident where a two-year-old child, I.P.L., was struck and killed by a motor vehicle at a Chick-fil-A drive-through in Yukon, Oklahoma, on August 5, 2023.
Following the incident, I.P.L.’s parents, Leslie Lozada and Jesus Perez, initiated legal action against Chick-fil-A, alleging negligence and wrongful death. They claimed the restaurant failed to provide a safe environment for its customers, particularly concerning pedestrian access to the building through the drive-through lanes.
During the discovery phase, the parents sought extensive documentation from Chick-fil-A, including records of adverse events, complaints, and incidents at any of its restaurants across the United States dating back to August 5, 2013. Chick-fil-A objected to the breadth of these requests, arguing they were overly broad, unduly burdensome, and not limited to substantially similar incidents.
Richard Ogden, judge of the District Court of Oklahoma County, granted the parents’ motion to compel discovery, albeit with some modifications, ordering Chick-fil-A to provide records of incidents involving pedestrians in the parking lots of its restaurants for the five years preceding the 2023 incident. Chick-fil-A then sought intervention from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, arguing the discovery order was still too broad.
The Supreme Court agreed with Chick-fil-A, finding the discovery requests, specifically Request for Production No. 27, to be overly broad and that Judge Ogden abused its discretion by not requiring the parents to demonstrate how the requested information was relevant to their claims. The court’s decision referenced 12 O.S.2021 § 3226, which governs the scope of discovery in Oklahoma, emphasizing that discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case and relevant to a party’s claim or defense.
The Supreme Court prohibited the enforcement of paragraph 7 of the January 6, 2025, order compelling discovery and authorized the lower court to reevaluate the parents’ motion to compel in accordance with its opinion.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
