Key Insight: Preliminary injunction prohibiting former employee from using or disclosing any of employer’s business information and directing her to return employer’s property, equipment, documents and business and quality control records (including computer records)
Nature of Case: Employer sued former employee for breach of fiduciary duty and related torts
Electronic Data Involved: Emails and computer records
Key Insight: Court denied motion for default judgment but granted motion for an adverse inference instruction and $20,000 in monetary sanctions where, in advance of court-ordered inspection, defendants deleted from their computers numerous electronic files which had been copied from former employer’s computer systems prior to their resignations, and, after the inspection, defendants failed to comply with court’s order that they delete all of plaintiffs’ files from their computers
Nature of Case: Misappropriation of trade secrets and related torts
Electronic Data Involved: Proprietary information in electronic form
Key Insight: Plaintiffs’ motion for on-site inspection of computer records granted and defendant ordered to pay all plaintiffs’ expenses and legal fees unnecessarily expended due to defendant’s failure to make an accurate disclosure of its computer capabilities in December 1998
Nature of Case: Trademark infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Computerized information re purchase of goods bearing plaintiffs’ trademarks
Key Insight: Defendant’s discovery abuses and deletion of web site pages and other electronic information warranted entry of order enjoining spoliation and imposing monetary sanctions against defendant
Nature of Case: Breach of contract and related claims
Electronic Data Involved: Web site pages; log files and backup tapes of nonparty web hosting company
Key Insight: Exercising its inherent authority to safeguard the integrity of its judicial process, court granted defendants’ motion for sanctions and dismissed the complaint due to plaintiff’s discovery abuses and “civil vigilantism” which began during the course of his employment and prior to filing suit
Nature of Case: Wrongful discharge
Electronic Data Involved: Illicit incursions into the offices, computers, and email accounts of executives of defendant
Key Insight: Entry of default judgment on issue of liability and imposition of other discovery sanctions against insurer for failure to produce computer data and other discovery abuses was not an abuse of discretion
Nature of Case: Insurance coverage
Electronic Data Involved: Database
Key Insight: Where, after months of discovery disputes, reports upon which defendant urged plaintiff to rely in lieu of full database turned out to be inaccurate, court denied plaintiff’s motion for entry of default judgment for discovery abuse and instead postponed trial so that defendant could produce accurate information; however, court imposed monetary sanctions against defendant representing plaintiff’s legal and expert fees for time spent working with inaccurate data
Nature of Case: Employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: Database, reports, electronic data
Key Insight: After jury trial resulted in defense verdict, court ruled on defendant’s outstanding motion for sanctions; pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 and its inherent authority, court ordered plaintiff to pay defendant’s total counsel fees, expenses and costs incurred in the litigation (not just those related to discovery issues) amounting to $8,211,287 as sanction for plaintiff’s egregious discovery misconduct
Nature of Case: Dispute over development and license agreement
Electronic Data Involved: Email and other computerized data
Key Insight: Defendant’s discovery abuse and destruction of evidence warranted monetary sanctions and default judgment
Nature of Case: Antitrust
Electronic Data Involved: Sales and inventory data
Key Insight: Where defendants had taken steps to remedy alleged gaps in production by producing new spreadsheets and time remained to remedy any further deficiencies prior to the discovery cut-off, extreme sanction of default judgment was unwarranted
Nature of Case: Breach of contract
Electronic Data Involved: Emails and spreadsheets of sales data
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