Failure to Create Data Distinguished from Spoliation and Not Subject to Sanction
Getty Properties Corp. v. Raceway Petroleum, Inc., 2005 WL 1412134 (D.N.J. June 14, 2005)
In 1992, Defendant Third-Party Plaintiff Raceway Petroleum, Inc. (“Raceway”) leased a property from Plaintiff Getty Properties Corp. and Third-Party Defendant Power Test Realty, Co., Ltd. (collectively, “Getty”). The property had been used for a gas station by Getty from 1975 to 1992. Raceway began operating its gas station on the site in 1993. Both acknowledged in 1992 that the property was contaminated with gasoline, and Getty was to be responsible for the remediation of any contamination existing prior to the occupation by Raceway. In 1996, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection noted a gasoline discharge at the property. Getty sued Raceway, alleging that Raceway was responsible for contamination in September 1999. Raceway filed a counterclaim, and motions were filed seeking sanctions for discovery abuses. Read More