Court Denies Motion for Sanctions Based upon Defendant’s Failure to Maintain Certain Data, Noting that Plaintiff’s Preemptive “Spoliation Letter” Cannot Make “End Run” Around FRCP
Frey v. Gainey Transp. Servs., Inc., 2006 WL 2443787 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 22, 2006)
This personal injury litigation arose from an accident involving plaintiff’s car and a tractor-trailer driven by defendant Rogers while he was employed by defendant Gainey Transportation. Ten days after the accident occurred and before any litigation had been filed, plaintiff’s counsel sent a letter to Tim Kelly, the Safety Director at Gainey, demanding that Mr. Kelly preserve numerous and varied documents and materials fully described in a fifteen-page attachment to the letter. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that any “destruction or alteration” of the material would be considered “spoliation of evidence.” In this decision, the court denies plaintiff’s motion for sanctions based upon Gainey’s failure to preserve any “QualComm” satellite tracking information.