What showing is necessary in seeking the disclosure of employee records?

In Beckles v. Kingsbrook Jewish Med. Ctr., decided on January 23, 2007, the Second Department denied plaintiff's demand for documents relating to the qualifications of more than 100 of defendant's employees. While looking to support her racial discrimination claim, plaintiff had made no showing that the employees in question were white or that their jobs had been comparable to hers in terms of requisite credentials. In short, plaintiff had not met the "material and necessary" threshold of CPLR 3101(a).