Text Messages

ILS Team
December 25, 2019

Use Of Messaging App To Auto Delete Text Messages During Discovery Phase of Case Was In Bad Faith

In Herzig v. Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc., No. 2:18-CV-02101 (W.D. Ark. July 3, 2019), the Arkansas District Judge found that Plaintiffs acted in bad faith by using and “manually configuring [the messaging app] Signal to delete text communications” and by failing to disclose those deleted messages to Defendant. However, the Court declined to

ilsteam
October 24, 2018

Plaintiff Who Deleted Text Messages Avoids Serious Sanctions Because No Intent to Deprive Defendant

In Sinclair v. Cambria County, et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-149 (W.D. Pa, September 28, 2018), the United States Superior Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted Defendant’s Motion for Sanctions after finding that Plaintiff violated Rule 37(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by failing to preserve electronically stored text messages during the

ilsteam
April 11, 2018

Court Considers Whether Text Messages Fabricated In Deciding Motion For Terminating Sanctions

In Lee v. Trees, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-0165-AC, (Dist. Ct. D. Oregon, 2017) the Court considered a motion requesting sanctions against a party accused of fabricating evidence in a sexual harassment case. Plaintiff Sarah Lee (“Lee”) was working as a flagger for employer and Defendant Trees, Inc. (“Trees”), a logging company, when, in May 2013, she

ilsteam
November 1, 2017

Court Orders Adverse Inference Sanctions Against Defendant in Lynyrd Skynyrd Litigation, Arising From 3rd Party Spoliation of Text Messages

In the case of Ronnie Van Zant, Inc. v. Artemis Pyle, (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 28, 2017) the plaintiffs, Ronnie Van Zant, Inc., Gary Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Barbara Houston, Alicia Rapp, and Carinna Gaines Biemiller (“Plaintiffs”) had sued former bandmate Artemis Pyle and Cleopatra Films and Records (“Defendants”) to stop them from producing a movie about Lynyrd

admin
April 12, 2017

Plaintiff’s Case Dismissed Due To Overwhelming Evidence of Intentional Deletion of Text Messages

In Coyne v. Los Alamos National Security, LLC et. al., Case No. 15-0054 (D. N.M., Mar. 21, 2017), Plaintiff former employee sued Defendant former employer Los Alamos for wrongful termination. Plaintiff alleged that she was assaulted on the job by a coworker and had to take FMLA leave after the assault. She also alleged that

admin
April 5, 2017

New York Plaintiff Sanctioned for Spoliation of Computer, Text Messages, Audio Recordings

In Simons v. Petrarch LLC et. al., Case No. 158843/2013 (2017 NY Slip Op 30457, Supreme Court of NY, New York County, Mar. 8, 2017), Plaintiff sued her former employer and its owner for alleged incidents during her employment of sexual harassment, retaliation and civil battery. Defendant Petrarch LLC (“Petrarch”) employed Plaintiff from 2008 until

ilsteam
March 27, 2017

Motion to Compel Text Messages Denied for Untimely Filing after Discovery End Date

In Healthwerks, Inc. et. al. v. Stryker Spine, et. al., Case No. 14-93 (E.D. Wisc., Mar. 6, 2017), Plaintiffs sought declaratory judgment regarding two exclusive agency agreements entered into with Defendant Stryker. One month before the scheduled March 2016 trial, Plaintiffs and Third Party Defendants filed a Motion to Compel text messages from Defendant Stryker. According

admin
February 24, 2017

Text Messages in Electronic Discovery: Produce or Face Spoliation for Deletion

Text messages in electronic discovery are more important than ever in almost all civil litigations. Even more so than email, texts tend to be casual and candid in content, and may not be as carefully considered prior to transmission. This quality makes text messages a particularly prime source of potential relevant evidence in many cases

admin
October 26, 2016

Sanctions Awarded against Defendant for Deleted Text Messages and Failure to Produce Native Format Data

In First Financial Security, Inc. v. Freedom Equity Group, LLC, Case NO. 15-1893 (N.D. Cali., Oct. 7, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendant for intentional interference with contractual relationships and violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, alleging that Defendant induced 1,400 sales contractors to leave Plaintiff’s employ and join Defendant “en masse”. Particularly, Plaintiff’s former sales contractors

admin
March 23, 2016

Court Orders Spoliation Sanctions for Defendants’ Willful Failure to Produce Text Messages

In First Financial Security, Inc. v. Lee et. al., Case No. 14-1843 (D. Minn. Mar. 8, 2016), Plaintiff sued Defendants for breach of contract. During discovery, Plaintiff sought communications, including emails and text messages, sent both before and after a critical May 10 meeting. Defendants refused to provide any of the information from after the May 10