Category: Spoliation

  • Adverse Inference Sanction Ordered Following Defendant’s Intentional Spoliation of ESI

    14 Mar 2016

    In Brown Jordan International, Inc. et. al. v. Carmicle, Consolidated Case Nos. 14-60629 and 14-61415 (S.D. Fla., Mar. 2, 2016), Defendant, an engineer working for Plaintiffs, wrote a letter accusing various of Plaintiffs’ agents and officers of fraud. Plaintiffs, concerned about terminating Defendant and being accused of retaliation, hired an

  • Defendants Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Text Messages

    22 Feb 2016

    In Benefield v. MStreet Entertainment, LLC et. al., Case No. 13-1000 (M.D. Tenn., Feb. 1, 2016), a wrongful termination lawsuit in which Plaintiff alleges she was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment to human resources, Plaintiff filed an EEOC charge on June 27, 2013 and filed suit three months

  • Deleted Email Leads Court to Vacate $21 Million Verdict

    25 Jan 2016

    In Hausman v. Holland America Line-U.S.A., et. al., Case No. 13-0937 (W.D. Wash., Jan. 5, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendants for injuries sustained when a sliding door on a cruise ship closed improperly on his head. He was ultimately awarded over $21 million by a jury. In a bizarre twist, a

  • Jury to Decide ESI Spoliation Issue in Wrongful Termination Suit

    22 Jan 2016

    In Evans v. Quintiles Transnational Corp., Case No. 13-00987 (D. S.C., Dec. 23, 2015), Plaintiff sued Defendant, her former employer, for wrongful termination. She alleged she was terminated in retaliation after she expressed a desire to report her supervisor for an argument they had about commission. On summary judgment, the court

  • NYC Fined Spoliation Sanctions for Gross Negligence in Failure to Preserve ESI

    18 Jan 2016

    The Southern District of New York recently imposed spoliation sanctions after holding that New York City negligently destroyed documents in a civil rights case. In Stinson et. al. v. City of New York et. al., Case No. 10-4228 (S.D. N.Y., Jan. 2, 2016), Plaintiffs sued Defendants NYC, various NYPD officers,

  • Court Compels ESI Production and Reserves Judgment on Sanctions

    11 Jan 2016

    In Granados et. al. v. Traffic Bar and Restaurant, Inc. et. al., Case No. 13-0500 (S.D. N.Y., Dec. 30, 2015), a lawsuit filed by former employees of Defendants under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Defendants failed to answer the lawsuit and the court entered default judgment against Defendants for failure to

  • District of Columbia Dismisses Spoliation Case for Lack of Jurisdiction

    30 Dec 2015

    In the spoliation case out of the District of Columbia North et. al. v. Smarsh, Inc., et. al., Case No. 15-494 (D. Columbia, December 4, 2015), Plaintiffs were securities brokers who were subject to disciplinary actions by FINRA. They hired Defendant Smarsh, the email vendor for their former firm, to

  • Spoliation Sanctions Proper for Failure to Implement Litigation Hold

    28 Dec 2015

    In Pegasus Aviation I, Inc. et. al. v. Varig Logistica S.A., 2015 NY Slip Op 09187, No. 153 (N.Y. App., Dec. 15, 2015), the New York County Supreme Court granted a motion for spoliation sanctions, striking Defendant Varig’s answer and ordering an adverse inference.  The other Defendants appealed, and the

  • Court Denies Pro Se Plaintiff’s Motion for Spoliation Sanctions

    23 Nov 2015

    In Garner v. Executive Management Services, Inc., et. al., Case No. 13-2043 (S.D. Ind., Nov. 6, 2015), pro se Plaintiff filed a Motion for Sanctions against the attorney for the Defendants, alleging that he 1) lost or destroyed an original of a manual produced by Plaintiff; 2) failed to preserve

  • Eastern District of New York Denies Spoliation Sanctions Motion as Procedurally Improper

    21 Oct 2015

    In In re Symbol Technologies, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case No. 05-3923 (E.D.N.Y., September 30, 2015), a class action securities lawsuit filed by Iron Workers Union Local 580 Pension Fund, the court recently denied Plaintiff’s motion for spoliation sanctions. Plaintiff sued Defendant for violations of SEC regulations and the Securities Exchange