Archive - December 2017

1
Doe v. County of San Mateo (N.D. Cal., 2017)
2
Emerald Point v. Hawkins, 294 Va. 544, 808 S.E.2d 384 (Va. Dec. 28, 2017)
3
EEOC v. Jetstream, 878 F.3d 960 (10th Cir. Dec. 28, 2017)
4
Barbera v. Pearson Education, Inc., No. 16-cv-2533-JMS-DML (S.D. Ind. Dec. 28, 2017)
5
Johnson v. Ford Motor Co. (S.D. W. Va. , 2017)
6
Baher Abdelgawad v. Mark Mangieri (W.D. Pa., 2017)
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Abdelgawad v. Mangieri, CA No. 14-1641 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 22, 2017)
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Nelson v. Schultz (7th Cir., 2017)
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Klein v. Board of Trustees (D. Alaska, 2017)
10
Hurd v. City of Lincoln, No. 4:16-CV-3029 (D. Neb. Dec. 21, 2017)

Emerald Point v. Hawkins, 294 Va. 544, 808 S.E.2d 384 (Va. Dec. 28, 2017)

Key Insight: Spoliation rule jury instruction for destruction of physical object inappropriate because no intention or bad faith present.

Nature of Case: Landlord Tenant Dispute over CO levels from furnace

Electronic Data Involved: No ESI, application of FRCP 37(e) for guidance

Keywords: ESI spoliation instructions, intentional loss or bad faith, application of FRCP 37(e) in state court

EEOC v. Jetstream, 878 F.3d 960 (10th Cir. Dec. 28, 2017)

Key Insight: loss or destruction of documents and spoliation sanctions

Nature of Case: refusal to hire

Electronic Data Involved: destroyed notes (not specified to be electronic), Excel spreadsheet

Keywords: adverse inference instruction, Fed. R. Evid. 301, Hicks, EEOC

View Case Opinion

Barbera v. Pearson Education, Inc., No. 16-cv-2533-JMS-DML (S.D. Ind. Dec. 28, 2017)

Key Insight: spoliation, intent to deprive

Nature of Case: Title VII Sex Discrimination

Electronic Data Involved: e-mail

Keywords: sanctions, bad faith, intent to deprive, 37(e)(2), curative measures, 37(e)(1)

View Case Opinion

Baher Abdelgawad v. Mark Mangieri (W.D. Pa., 2017)

Key Insight: Party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve ESI, but since plaintiff never made a proportionate measure request to cure the prejudice, and since defendant made good faith attempts to provide access, no spoliation is found.

Nature of Case: breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, trademark

Electronic Data Involved: QuickBook files in digital form + other documents

Keywords: spoliation sanctions, good faith attempt, proportionate measure

View Case Opinion

Abdelgawad v. Mangieri, CA No. 14-1641 (W.D. Pa. Dec. 22, 2017)

Key Insight: spoliation, adverse inference

Nature of Case: breach of fiduciary duty, defamation

Electronic Data Involved: QuickBook files

Keywords: adverse inference, intent to deprive, spoliation, spoliation factors, sanctions

View Case Opinion

Nelson v. Schultz (7th Cir., 2017)

Key Insight: Judges should weigh lesser sanctions before dismissing a case, but are not required to.

Nature of Case: Breach of Contract, Torts

Electronic Data Involved: Tax and bank statements

Keywords: failure to respond, discovery sanctions, discovery misconduct

View Case Opinion

Klein v. Board of Trustees (D. Alaska, 2017)

Key Insight: ESI does not need to be produced if it is from sources not reasonably accessible on account of undue burden or cost.

Nature of Case: medical fees

Electronic Data Involved: medicare documents, etc

Keywords: undue burden, not reasonably accessible, third party requests

View Case Opinion

Hurd v. City of Lincoln, No. 4:16-CV-3029 (D. Neb. Dec. 21, 2017)

Key Insight: No produced emails were from the Mayor. Mayor’s deposition not necessary or proportional to needs of the case.

Nature of Case: employment discrimination and retaliation

Electronic Data Involved: Over 6,500 emails and attachments produced by defendant.

Keywords: Relevant and proportional, proportionality, mere conjecture and conclusory statements.

View Case Opinion

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