When Kate Needham received five subpoenas from attorneys representing Balfour Beatty Communities, her heart sank.
The company, which manages roughly 43,000 homes for the Department of Defense, demanded copies of all correspondence between her organization, Armed Forces Housing Advocates, and anyone with whom AFHA had discussed Balfour Beatty — part of the discovery process in lawsuits brought against the company by 20 military families who allege they were harmed by the housing conditions in their Balfour Beatty-built homes.
The subpoenas not only asked for all emails, texts, transcripts, recordings, minutes, agendas or any other items with the 20 families or pertaining to Balfour Beatty, they wanted all correspondence with anyone who had ever asked about the company, as well as anyone who spoke with AFHA about housing at Fort Bliss or Tinker, Sheppard and Lackland Air Force bases, including the media and other third parties.
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“They weren’t just asking for the family’s information who was suing them. They were asking for all communications with any third party right off the bat,” said Needham, AFHA’s executive director. “Privacy has always been our priority. Families have come to us, and we didn’t want that confidence to be betrayed.”
The request, according to Needham, would have financially…
