April 2021 – Electronic Discovery Law

Martinez-Sanchez v. Anthony Vineyards, Inc. (E.D. Cal. Apr. 29, 2021)

Apr 29 2021

Key Insight: The burden of production and utility of the employee badge scans sought by plaintiffs outweighed the benefit to plaintiffs of analyzing the information because: (1) the timekeeping software did not have a reporting function for timestamps and collecting the information would require at least 22,000 hours of manual work; (2) the software only contained records for some months of 2019, less than a quarter of the four-year class period; and (3) the timestamps do not definitively establish the time at which the event happened. Plaintiffs were only entitled to the data in the form in which it is ordinarily maintained. Further, plaintiffs’ request for another copy of defendants’ payroll data would be needlessly cumulative as defendants had provided alternative solutions to plaintiffs’ data extraction and reporting issues. Lastly, although the magistrate judge’s order did not explicitly cite to Rule 26(b)(2), the court’s reasoning clearly fell under Rule 26(b)(2)(B), which permitted the court to deny the production of ESI where the information is “not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost” irrespective of whether the magistrate judge had analyzed all the proportionality factors contained in Rule 26(b)(1).

Nature of Case: Labor and Employment

Electronic Data Involved: Timekeeping Data

Case Summary

Matter of the Complaint of Paradise Family (M.D. Fla. 2021)

Apr 28 2021

Key Insight: Plaintiff’s social media account information (Facebook and Instagram) is relevant and proportional to his alleged damages for loss of the capacity to enjoy life. Social media is not privileged or protected by any right of privacy.

Nature of Case: Admiralty

Electronic Data Involved: Social Media

Case Summary

Hurley v. BMW of N. Am. LLC (E.D. Pa. Apr. 27, 2021)

Apr 27 2021

Key Insight: The three categories of documents sought by Plaintiff are relevant to the litigation. Further, production of the three categories of documents would not be disproportionate to the needs of the litigation. Production of the documents, which had already been digitized and indexed (and produced) for previous litigation, would be of little expense and/or burden to Defendant. The burden and/or expense of producing the documents do not outweigh the likely benefits of production.

Nature of Case: Product Defects

Electronic Data Involved: Digitized and indexed manuals and other documents

Case Summary

Edwards v. Junior State of Am. Found. (E.D. Tex. 2021)

Apr 23 2021

Key Insight: At issue were “racist and homophobic Facebook messages” one high school student allegedly sent to another high school student (plaintiff), both of whom were members of the defendant’s youth organization. Plaintiffs provided a partial .jpeg image (screenshot) of the alleged message and defendant requested additional ESI to authenticate the messages, namely HTML or JSON files, and associated metadata. Plaintiffs never objected to the discovery requests and failed to produce any documents for over a year. Plaintiffs then admitted through a digital forensics experts that the Facebook account had been permanently deleted and the native versions of the alleged messages had been destroyed. The court declined to dismiss the case under Rule 37(b)(2)(A) but applied Rule 37(e), finding that the native messages were relevant ESI and were deleted around the time plaintiffs had a duty to preserve them, and they could not be adequately replaced by the available screenshots. Therefore, plaintiffs would be precluded from offering any evidence about the alleged messages.

Nature of Case: Civil Rights

Electronic Data Involved: Facebook Messages

Case Su m mary

Lukis v. Whitepages Incorporated (N.D. Ill.)

Apr 23 2021

Key Insight: Plaintiff filed a Motion to Compel and to Extend Fact Discovery Deadline after Defendant refused to substantively respond to Plaintiff’s discovery requests. Similarly, Defendant also had filed Motion to Compel Plaintiff to respond to its discovery requests regarding online account information, social media and browser history. The Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion(s) and partially granted Defendant’s Motion to Compel. The fact discovery deadline in the matter was extended to approximately two months after the Court’s order(s).

Nature of Case: Class Action Lawsuit

Electronic Data Involved: Social Media, Online Account History, Privacy Settings on Websites, Internet Browser History

Case Summary

Maker’s Mark Distiller, Inc. v. Spalding Grp., Inc. (W.D. Ky. 2021)

Apr 20 2021

Key Insight: The litigation was over a licensing agreement regarding the use of trademarks owned by Plaintiff on cigars. Plaintiff filed a Motion(s) for a Protective Order and to Compel. The Protective Order sought would to preclude deposition testimony regarding functionality. The Motion to Compel sought to compel Defendant to utilize a new search protocol to find requested information (and documents) and produce financial records.

Plaintiff’s Motion for a Protective Order was granted; its Motion to Compel was partially granted, requiring Defendant to produce financial records, and but denied insofar as it sought to compel Defendant to utilize new search terms to search for documents. Unreasonable delay by Plaintiff in raising the issue(s) of the new search terms and/or purportedly missing documents was a significant factor in the Court’s partial denial of Plaintiff’s Motion.

Nature of Case: Trademark Infringement

Electronic Data Involved: Financial Records, Electronic Documents

Case Summary

Lamaute v. Power (D.D.C. 2021)

Apr 18 2021

Key Insight: In using the proportionality test, each factor should be examined to balance the needs and rights of both parties and determine an appropriate resolution. When requests are overbroad and not proportional to the needs of the case, the court may limit the scope of the documents a party is required to produce.

Nature of Case: Employment Discrimination, Title VII

Electronic Data Involved: Electronic Documents Generally

Case Summary

Hastings v. Ford Motor Co. (S.D. Cal. 2021)

Apr 02 2021

Key Insight: In litigation over product defect claim(s), Plaintiff filed a Motion to Compel Defendants to produce additional records pursuant to its discovery requests. The Motion centered around search terms that Plaintiff sought to compel Defendants to utilize in searching for responsive records. Reviewing specific Requests for Production, the Court found that they were overbroad and lacked relevance. Plaintiff’s Motion was denied, and Plaintiff was ordered to show why it (and counsel) should not have to reimburse Defendants’ for attorney’s fees and expenses in responding to the Motion.

Nature of Case: Contract Product Liability

Electronic Data Involved: Search Terms

Case Summary

Archive - April 2021