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Court Imposes Sanctions on Parties for Willful Violations of Discovery Rules
In Camecia v. Cooley, No. 74048-2-1, (Wash. Ct. App. Div. I, 2017), the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1, upheld a lower court’s imposition of sanctions for willful violations of discovery rules. On June 19, 2006, Susan Camicia (“Camecia”) hit a wooden bollard while riding her bicycle on the
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Court Rejects Request for Adverse Inference Instruction Where Plaintiff Fails to Prove Intent
The United States District Court D, Nebraska heard the case of Inderjeet Basra, individually and as Personal Representative for the Estate of Atinderpal Singh, Dilshaan Rehal, by and through his next friend, Inderjeet Basra v. Ecklund Logistics, Inc., No. 8:16CV83, (D. Neb., March 2017) where the Plaintiff claimed the Defendant
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U.S. 3rd Circuit Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Spoliation Sanction; Outlines Moving Party’s Insufficient Showing re Bad Faith Intent
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit determined that there was no bad faith involved regarding a question of accessabiltiy of evidence in Alston v. Park Pleasant, Inc., No. 16-1464. (3rd. Cir. Feb. 2017), and so the pre-requisite bad faith intent needed for ordering spoliation sanction was
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Defendants’ Failure To Make Showing On Motion To Compel Abrogates Sanctions Against Plaintiff For Refusing to Meet and Confer
In Carter v. H2R Restaurant Holdings, (N.D. Texas August 29, 2017) the parties’ viewpoints on discovery were so disparate that Plaintiff stated a meet-and-confer session would be completely pointless. Defendants filed a Motion to Compel, including a sanctions request for Plaintiff’s failure to meet and confer. The Court was tasked
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Even Without Ill Intent, Plaintiff’s Failure to Preserve ESI on Cell Phone Still Leads to Sanctions
In Montgomery v. Iron-Rooster Annapolis, LLC., Civil No. RDB-16-3760 (D. Md. May 9, 2017) the Plaintiff sued her former employer for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law. She was employed from March of 2015 to March of 2016. Defendants claimed that
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Court Sanctions Wells Fargo For Failure to Obey an ESI Discovery Order
In United States District Court, E.D., California case Bird v. Wells Fargo Bank, (Case No. 1:16-cv-01130-DAD-EPG), Plaintiff Kimberly Sue Bird (“Plaintiff”) has filed a motion to compel and for sanctions contending in part that Defendant Wells Fargo Bank (“Defendant”) failed to comply with the Court’s March 31, 2017 discovery order.
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Will Hard Copy Production of Data Requested in Discovery Prevent Sanctions for Spoliation of Evidence?
The U.S. Northern District Court of Alabama, Southern Division, examined this question regarding sanctions for spoliation of evidence in Jackson v. Haynes & Haynes, P.C., (Civil Action No. 2:16-cv-01297-AKK). Edna Jackson (“Jackson”) filed this lawsuit against her former employers, Haynes & Haynes, P.C. (“Haynes”) after working for them as a
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Taylor Swift Seeks Adverse Inference Sanction for Spoliation of ESI
The United States District Court of Colorado reviewed singer Taylor Swift’s motion for sanctions in Mueller v. Swift (Civil Action No. 15-cv-1974-WJM-KLM). David Mueller (“Mueller”) sued Taylor Swift (“Swift”) and other defendants for tortious interference with his work contract. Swift counter-sued Mueller for allegedly groping her under her skirt at
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Plaintiff Unable to Establish Spoliation Despite Suspicious Activity
Can use of computer wiping software be innocuous once litigation commences, or is such use sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to establish spoliation sanctions? The court considered this question in HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. v. Valda Flowers, No 1:15-cv-3262-WSD (N.D. Georgia, January 30, 2017). Plaintiff sued Defendant for alleged misappropriation of
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Defendant Seeking Evidentiary Sanctions for Discovery Disputes
In Somers v. Digital Realty Trust Inc., Case No. 14-cv-05180-EMC(KAW), N.D. Cal. July 11, 2017, the court concluded that the parties were “incapable of meeting and conferring” and instead decided a number of discovery disputes for the parties. One such dispute concerned electronic files that Plaintiff made available to Defendants