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Mississippi Court of Appeals Reverses Jury Award of $0, Finding Spoliation Instruction Improper
In Teal v. Jones, Case No. 2015-00259 (Miss. Ct. App., Jan. 3, 2017), Plaintiff sued her ex-husband’s former mistress for alienation of affections. The divorce between Plaintiff and her ex-husband was finalized in June 2008; however, after the divorce was over, Plaintiff learned about the extramarital affair between Defendant and
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Spoliation Not Addressed In Meaningful Way So Tenth Circuit Court Affirms Summary Judgment
In Helget v. City of Hays, et. al., Case No. 15-3093 (10th Cir., Jan. 4, 2017), Plaintiff, a former employee with the City of Hays’ police department, alleged that because she provided an affidavit in support of another employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the City, she herself was terminated in
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FTC Seeks Sanctions Against DIRECTV for Spoliation of ESI
In Federal Trade Commission v. DIRECTV Inc., et. al., Case No. 15-01129 (N.D. Cal., Dec. 21, 2016), the FTC filed suit against satellite television provider DIRECTV for deceptive advertising related to Defendants’ failure to disclose certain terms when offering low prices for a certain time frame on its service. During
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The Importance and Effect of a Litigation Hold: Spoliation Sanctions Cases
Spoliation of electronic evidence can be a relatively common occurrence. Many corporate entities routinely delete ESI as part of document retention policies, particularly when an employee has left the company and his or her computer is reclaimed. For that reason, in litigation involving the production of ESI, a litigation hold
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Vaginal Mesh MDL Plaintiffs’ Spoliation Claims Dismissed Pursuant to West Virginia Law
Mullins et. al. v. Ethicon, Inc. et. al., Case No. 12-02952 (S.D. W.V., Nov. 18, 2016) is a massive multi-district litigation (MDL) related to injuries to patients arising from pelvic mesh implants used to treat urinary incontinence. After the cases were consolidated, Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the consolidated
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Court Declines to Find Spoliation for Inadvertent Destruction of Computer Prior to Lawsuit
Reyes et. al. v. Julia Place Condominiums Homeowners Association, Inc., et. al., Case No. 12-2043 (E.D.L.A., Oct. 7, 2016) is a class action lawsuit brought by condominium owners throughout New Orleans against their various condo associations alleging debt collection practices that violate state and federal law. After motions to certify
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Spoliation of Electronic Evidence Not Found in Maryland Will Contest
Castruccio v. Estate of Castruccio, et. al., Case No. 1665, September Term, 2014 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, Sept. 29, 2016) is a probate case in which the deceased testator signed the fifth page of his six-page will. Witnesses signed on page 6. His widow challenged the will, as
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Court Finds that Defendant Corporations Falsified Electronic Wage and Hour Records
In Ayala et. al. v. Your Favorite Auto Repair & Diagnostic Center, Inc. et. al., Case No. 14-5269 (E.D. N.Y., Sept. 16, 2016), Plaintiffs sued Defendants under the Fair Labor Standards Act and under New York’s state labor law, seeking to recover unpaid wages and overtime as well as other
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Court Rules in Favor of Whistleblower Plaintiff on Spoliation Sanctions Motion
In Erhart v. BofI Holding, Inc., Case No. 15-02287 (S.D. Cal., Sept. 21, 2016), whistleblower Plaintiff alleged his former employer violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the laws of the State of California. Defendant filed a countersuit against Plaintiff for violation of the
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Massive Punitive Damages Award Rendered for Email Spoliation
Intentional Email Deletion Leads to Multi-Million Dollar Sanctions Order A Delaware Court entered a massive punitive damages award based upon findings of intentional, bad faith spoliation of email threads by a corporate defendant in an antitrust case brought under the Sherman Act and common law. The extensive facts in GN