Key Insight: proportionality, spoliation sanctions
Nature of Case: wrongful termination
Electronic Data Involved: text messages, e-mails
Keywords: spoliation, forensic imaging, relevance, duty to preserve, intent to deprive, prejudice, attorney’s fees
Key Insight: Failure to disclose ID Card and expert report on testing precluded use of them
Nature of Case: Wrongful Death
Electronic Data Involved: Identification Card
Keywords: Expert Reports; Failure to Disclose
Key Insight: Spoliation; Duty to preserve; AC/WP; Voluntary disclosure doctrine
Nature of Case: Personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: ESI; Videos; Digital data and metadata; Photographs; SD/media card; email; Forensic exam of cell phone
Keywords: Dishonest report of personal injury; Summary Judgment; FRSA; LIA; Spoliation; dispositive sanctions; extraordinary circumstances; Willfulnes; Bad Faith; Prejudices; adverse inference; misappropriated documents; AC/WP
Key Insight: Terminating case is an appropriate sanction if there’s bad faith pre-litigation conduct
Nature of Case: corporate self dealing
Electronic Data Involved: Documents
Keywords: sanctions, terminate case, misconduct, bad faith
Key Insight: Spoliation; duty to preserve
Nature of Case: Civil Rights Title VII – Sexual harassment
Electronic Data Involved: Notebook; earnings records
Keywords: Loss of documents; Spoliation; duty to preserve; Bad Faith; Prejudice
Key Insight: Intentional deletion of accounts does not lead to prejudice if the data is still accessible, but does lead to an adverse inference when the data is not
Nature of Case: Copyright infringement
Electronic Data Involved: “sock puppet” accounts and related data
Keywords: Sock puppet accounts, adverse inference, spoliation sanctions
Key Insight: Interference or concealment are not actionable under the tort
Nature of Case: Wrongful termination (sex discrimination), intentional interference/destruction of evidence tort
Keywords: independent tort, intentional interference
Key Insight: A ruling of prejudice requires specificity as to documents. Intent is required for 37(3) sanctions, but courts can reserve the right to impose a lesser sanction after seeing hope evidence is presented at trial.
Nature of Case: Employment dispute
Electronic Data Involved: e-mails
Keywords: Spoliation sanctions, prejudice, specificity
Key Insight: Spoliation sanctions must remedy the harm caused by the loss, and if documents are produced there is little loss
Nature of Case: Intellectual Property (Trade secrets)
Electronic Data Involved: E-mail
Keywords: Spoliation, sanctions
Key Insight: Plaintiff performed “factory reset” on phone, deleting videos; Plaintiff had sent to EEOC, but could not produce e-mail; Was not enough for sanction of dismissal
Nature of Case: Employment Discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: Cell Phone Video
Keywords: Negligent Spoilation; Perjury; Sanctions
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