In Beverly John v. County of Lake, 18-cv-06935-WHA(SK) (N.D. Cal. Jul. 3, 2020), the Magistrate Judge recommended that the District Court provide adverse inference jury instructions to the jury based upon a finding that Defendants and their counsel spoliated evidence. The Magistrate Judge also determined that monetary sanctions were appropriate. This case arose from Plaintiffs’
Text Messages
- ILS Team
- May 7, 2020
Request For Inspection Of Cellphone Denied Where Request Was Not Proportional And Less Intrusive Production Of Text Messages Was Sufficient
In Santana v. MKA2 Enterprises, Inc., No. 18-2094-DDC-TJJ (D. Kan. Jan. 8, 2019), a Magistrate Judge denied Defendant’s Motion to Compel regarding Defendant’s request for Plaintiff to produce all of his cellphones for inspection and copying while also ordering Plaintiff to “produce complete copies of all responsive text messages to the extent they have not
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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