Tag:Data Preservation

Key Insight: Where pursuant to defendant?s document retention policy the form at issue was subject to retention until February 4, 2007, and where defendant provided notice of his claims on February 1, 2007, including his assertions of defendant?s negligence, court found destruction of the relevant form warranted an adverse inference establishing that defendant negligently loaded the trailer involved in the underlying accident

Nature of Case: Negligence

Electronic Data Involved: ESI

Key Insight: Where defendant negligently failed to preserve information that would have revealed whether a FedEx agent delivered packages to the address of the relevant accident on the day in question and where the presence of such a delivery person was disputed by FedEx, the court declined to grant default judgment but ordered an adverse inference establishing that a FedEx agent had delivered a package to the relevant address on the date of the accident

Nature of Case: Injury resulting from being hit by delivery handtruck loaded with boxes

Electronic Data Involved: ESI

Key Insight: Court declined to impose sanctions for plaintiff?s failure to disable software set to automatically erase and write-over internet-related files whenever the browser closed where plaintiff asserted that he installed such software as a regular practice on all of his computers and where because of the automatic nature of the software, evidence was lost well before plaintiff filed his suit or defendant filed its countersuit; defendant would be allowed to present additional evidence of spoliation at trial and the court indicated its willingness to reconsider sanctions upon a showing that more than just internet-related files were deleted

Nature of Case: Breach of contract related to compensation

Electronic Data Involved: Laptop

Key Insight: Despite acknowledging defendant?s failure to implement a litigation hold until at least 5 years after it first anticipated litigation, the court denied plaintiff?s motion for sanctions where the quantity and quality of the documents produced by defendant established that relevant information was ?diligently preserved? pursuant to defendant?s document retention policy and where plaintiff failed to establish that it had been prejudiced or that its ability to effectively prepare for trial had been impeded

Nature of Case: Hatch-Waxman patent infringement

Electronic Data Involved: ESI, emails

Key Insight: Court rejected plaintiff?s assertion that her January 22, 2009 letter to human resources put defendants on notice of its duty to preserve where the letter complained about her manager but did not threaten litigation and instead suggested ?a non-litigious resolution,? where plaintiff testified that she had no intention of suing at the time she sent the letter, where plaintiff waited over ten months after sending the letter to bring the instant litigation, and where the manager?s testimony that he thought the letter could give rise to legal ramifications was not sufficient to trigger the corporation?s duty to preserve

Nature of Case: Failure to accomodate, retaliation in violation of ADA

Electronic Data Involved: Emails

Key Insight: Court denied motion for spoliation sanctions where plaintiff was unable to establish that the relevant hard drives were destroyed after the duty to preserve arose and where plaintiff was unable to establish that the in-car video at issue ever existed or was destroyed after the duty to preserve arose in light of defendants? testimony that because of a ?recorder malfunctioned? no video existed

Nature of Case: Civil claims arising from alleged mistreatment upon arrest

Electronic Data Involved: Four hard drives, officer’s in-car video