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: 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: 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: As sanction for discovery abuse and tardy production of “smoking gun” email, court precluded defendant from opposing the admission in evidence of various emails and records, and ordered defendant to pay plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with motion and related discovery
Nature of Case: Airline crash litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: Court denied defendant’s motion to strike the testimony of plaintiff’s computer expert (who recovered “plethora” of deleted documents from defendant’s old YCA computer) since any delay in disclosing the expert and the recovered material was justified given defendant’s failure to disclose that his old computer might contain relevant evidence
Nature of Case: Breach of nondisclosure agreement, tortious interference
Electronic Data Involved: Deleted documents, computer hard drive
Key Insight: Court ordered nonparty to comply with subpoenas seeking electronic records, imposing monetary sanctions for nonparty’s unsupported argument that bankruptcy court’s automatic stay prevented it from having to comply with the subpoenas and ordering nonparty and plaintiff to meet and confer on means for compliance
Nature of Case: Copyright infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic records, including email
Key Insight: Court ordered defendant to supplement interrogatory response where deposition testimony showed that some of the information sought in the interrogatory could be obtained from a simple computer operation
Nature of Case: Insured alleged that insurer’s denial of claim violated 42 U.S.C. ? 1981
Electronic Data Involved: Computerized claim file information
Key Insight: After jury awarded plaintiffs $225,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, court considered as a post-judgment matter the issue of whether to impose sanctions against defendant for discovery abuse, allowing parties to conduct further discovery on the impact of defendant’s noncompliance and scheduling an evidentiary hearing on the issue
Nature of Case: Heirs of insured sued insurance company for breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, false representation and deceit
Electronic Data Involved: Computerized claims information
Key Insight: Magistrate granted various discovery sanctions requested by plaintiff, including monetary sanctions and a jury instruction adverse to defendants based on destruction and non-production of email
Nature of Case: Patent infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: Following additional briefing by parties on attorneys’ fees and adverse inference instruction, magistrate awarded plaintiff $563,843 in fees and $2,998 in costs for its counsel’s efforts on sanctions motion and to secure discovery and crafted jury instruction based upon that adopted in Zubulake V
Nature of Case: Patent infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Email
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