Key Insight: violation of repeated discovery orders warrants the substantial sanction of dismissing the counts.
Nature of Case: Massive debt-collection scheme
Keywords: payment processor, debt collector, collector, robo-call.
Key Insight: Missing video wouln’t change outcome of summary judgment, so no sanctions needed under 37(e)
Nature of Case: prisoner civil rights
Electronic Data Involved: video
Keywords: prisoner video, missing ESI summary judgment
Key Insight: Failure to fully respond to discovery requests, inability to ensure the production was responsive to discovery requests
Nature of Case: wage-and-hour
Electronic Data Involved: electronic records
Keywords: false representation, attorneys’ fees, egregious
Key Insight: Sanctions inappropriate because video was made available well before trial
Nature of Case: False arrest, excessive force
Electronic Data Involved: video
Keywords: lack of evidentiary support, surveillance video
Key Insight: Deletion of files, destruction of evidence.
Nature of Case: Alleged defendant use of plaintiff’s trade-secret information
Electronic Data Involved: computer images
Keywords: destruction of evidence, forensic examination
Key Insight: A different office overwrote the recordings, and thus it would be unjust to punish defendant for something they did not do. Moreover, there was no notice, and the recordings were overwritten as a normal course of business.
Nature of Case: Excessive force, 4th/5th amendments
Electronic Data Involved: Recordings of radio calls
Keywords: Notice of duty to preserve, safe harbor, spoliation sanctions, intent to deprive, failure to act
Key Insight: No spoliation because no showing that “either Defendants or their counsel acted” with an “intent to deprive” merely that there was “confusion and ineptitude.”
Nature of Case: breach of licensing agreement
Electronic Data Involved: business laptop and several external drives
Keywords: intent to deprive, spoliation, evaluate the reasonableness of preservation efforts.
Key Insight: whether adverse inference is warranted
Nature of Case: workplace discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: text messages, email
Keywords: relevance, prejudice, obligation to preserve, intent to deprive, gross negligence, inherent authority, sanctions, spoliation, fees, costs, adverse inference, bad faith, willfully
Key Insight: Despite lack of sanctions due to the evidence being available in other ways, automatic deletion of emails is not best practice.
Nature of Case: Sexual harassment
Electronic Data Involved: Deleted Emails
Keywords: Automatic deletion, Susan Blood,
Key Insight: the failure to implement a litigation hold is an important factor in determining culpability, ?but not per evidence of culpable conduct giving rise to a presumption of relevance and prejudice.?
Nature of Case: personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: destroyed records
Keywords: litigation hold; spoliation; adverse inference; likely to result in litigation
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