Spoliation

Subscribe to Spoliation

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 (along with others — Rules 1, 16, 26 and 34) was amended, effective December 1, 2015.

The amendment to Rule 37(e) was intended, in part, to ensure practitioners/litigants were fully aware of their preservation obligations, to ensure a uniformity of sanctions imposed upon parties and practitioners who failed to preserve discoverable electronically stored information (“ESI”), and to make adequate preservation a realistic goal, requiring that only “reasonable steps” be taken to preserve information. Indeed, the amendment requires a finding of intent or bad faith before sanctions can be imposed based upon spoliated information. (*)  Now, nearly a year after the enactment, it appears, from a review of the case law, that the amendment to Rule 37 (e) is effective in achieving its intended purposes.

Not only have federal court decisions involving sanctions declined since Rule 37’s amendment but, practitioners appear to be in better compliance with their preservation obligations since the amendment.

What Do the 2016 Statistics Look Like
Forty-nine federal decisions have cited Rule 37(e) since the Rule was amended. (**) Of these 49 decisions (20 of which did not apply Rule 37), thirteen decisions granted sanctions and sixteen decisions denied sanctions and/or reserved imposing sanctions. And so, sanctions were issued by courts approximately 40% of the time. Interestingly, the nature of the sanctions imposed spanned the gamut and included financial sanctions, adverse inferences, evidence preclusion, or a combination of sanctions. However, the most common sanction issued was an adverse inference.

Indeed, of the 13 decisions that granted sanctions:

• one decision entered a default judgment,
• three decisions precluded reliance upon certain evidence,
• seven decisions imposed monetary sanctions, and
• eight decisions imposed sanctions in the form of adverse inference sanctions. (***)

NB: some decisions imposed more than one type of sanction pursuant to 37(e).

Additionally, there was a variety of “lost” ESI at issue in the various decisions. Specifically,

• Twelve decisions involved unpreserved email data,
• Four decisions involved unpreserved text messages,
• Three decisions involved unpreserved portable device data,
• Two decisions involved unpreserved videos,
• Two decisions involved unpreserved phone call recordings,
• Two decisions involved unpreserved Internet browsing history,
• One decision involved unpreserved social media,
• Twelve decisions involved unpreserved non-email business data.

While 49 federal court decisions, in less than a year, have referenced Rule 37(e), that number is far fewer than in years past. In fact, according to research sources, the number of sanction decisions in 2011 totalled 150; and in 2012 that number was 120. Thus, it would appear that sanction decisions are on the decline. Moreover, given that there are 900 sitting federal judges, one could argue that sanctions have not lightly been sought since the Federal Rules amendments.

FOOTNOTES:

* Although Judge Scheindlin’s Zubulake opinions (which made it explicit that parties have a duty to preserve evidence when litigation is imminent) were authored many years ago, lawyers and parties nonetheless continued to fail to preserve evidence.

** Those 49 cases are:
CAT3, LLC v. Black Lineage, Inc., 2016 WL 154116 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)
O’Berry v. Turner, 2016 WL 1700403 (M.D. Ga., Valdosta Div. 2016)
Matthew Enterprise, Inc. v. Chrysler Group LLC, 2016 WL 2957133 (N.D. Cal. 2016)
GN Netcom, Inc. v. Plantronics, Inc., 2016 WL 3792833 (D. Del. 2016)
Learning Care Group, Inc. v. Armetta, 2016 WL 4191251 (D. Conn. 2016)
Best Payphones, Inc. v. City of New York, 2016 WL 792396 (E.D.N.Y. 2016)
Nuvasive, Inc. v. Madsen Medical, Inc., 2015 WL 305096 (S.D. Cal. 2016)
Thomas v. Butkiewicus, 2016 WL 1718368 (D. Conn 2016)
Ericksen v. Kaplan Higher Education, LLC, 2016 WL 695789 (D. Md. 2016)
BMG Rights Mgmt. (US) LLC v. Cox Comms., Inc., 2016 WL 4224964 (E.D. Va., Alexandria Div., 2016)
Brown Jordan Int’l, Inc. v. Carmicle, 2016 WL 815827 (S.D. Fl. 2016)
Core Laboratories LP v. Spectrum Tracer Services, L.L.C., 2016 WL 879324 (W.D. Okl. 2016)
Internmatch, Inc. v. Nxtbigthing, LLC, 2016 WL 491483 (N.D. Cal. 2016)
Living Color Enterprises, Inc. v. New Era Aquaculture, Ltd., 2016 WL 1105297 (S.D. Fl. 2016)
Marshall v. Dentfirst, P.C., 313 F.R.D. 691 (N.D. Ga., Atl. Div.)
Marten Transport, Ltd. v. Plattform Advertising, Inc., 2016 WL 492743 (D. Kansas 2016)
Saller v. QVC, Inc., 2016 WL 4063411 (E.D. Penn. 2016)
Martinez v. City of Chicago, 2016 WL 3538823 (N.D. Ill., Eastern Div. 2016)
Fiteq Inc. v. Venture Corporation, 2016 WL 1701794 (N.D. Cal. 2016)
Accurso v. Infra-Red Services, Inc., 2016 WL 930686 (E.D. Penn 2016)
United States v. Woodley, 2016 WL 1553583 (E.D. Mich., Southern Div. 2016)
Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf Island, LLC v. Chembulk Westport M/V, 2016 WL 930946 (E.D. La. 2016)
Orchestratehr, Inc. v. Trombetta, 2016 WL 1555784 (N.D. Tex., Dallas Div. 2016)
Thurmond v. Bowman, 2016 WL 1295957 (W.D.N.Y. 2016)
Mazzei v. Money Store, 2016 WL 3902256 (2d Cir. 2016)
Brackett v. Stellar Recovery, Inc., 2016 WL 1321415 (E.D. Tenn., Knoxville 2016)
Bagley v. Yale Univ., 2016 WL 3264141 (D. Conn 2016)
Thomley v. Bennett, 2016 WL 498436 (S.D. Ga., Waycross Div., 2016)
Granados v. Traffic Bar and Restaurant, Inc., 2015 WL 9582430 (S.D.N.Y. 2015)
Dr Distributors, LLC v. 21 Century Smoking, Inc., 2016 WL 4077107 (N.D. Ill., Western Div. 2016)
Henry Schein, Inc. v. Cook, 2016 WL 3212457 (N.D. Cal. 2016)
Bruner v. American Honda Motor Co., 2016 WL 2757401 (S.D. Al., Southern Div. 2016)
In re Bridge Construction Services of Florida, Inc., 2016 WL 2755877 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)
Markey v. Lapolla Industries, Inc., 2015 WL 5027522 (E.D.N.Y. 2015) (Tomlinson, U.S.M.J.)
Dao v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 2016 WL 796095 (N.D. Cal. 2016)
Zbylski v. Douglas County School District, 2015 WL 9583380 (D. Colo. 2016)
Redwind v. Western Union, LLC, 2016 WL 1732871 (D. Or. 2016)
Stinson v. City of New York, 2016 WL 54684 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)
Whitesell Corp. v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc., 2016 WL 1317673 (S.D. Ga., Augusta Div. 2016)
Vay v. Huston, 2016 WL 1408116 (W.D. Penn. 2016)
Hammad v. Dynamo Stadium, LLC, 2015 WL 6965215 (S.D. Tex., Houston Div. 2015)
Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Exeter Holdings, Ltd. v. Haltman, 2015 WL 5027899 (E.D.N.Y. 2015) (Tomlinson, U.S.M.J.)
United States v. Woodley, 2016 WL 2731186 (E.D. Mich., Southern Div.)
Grove City Veterinary Service, LLC v. Charter Practices Inter., LLC, 2015 WL 4937393 (D. Or. 2015)
United States v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 2016 WL 901608 (D. Idaho 2016)
Coale v. Metro-North Railroad Co., 2016 WL 1441790 (D. Conn. 2016)
Fleming v. Escort, Inc., 2015 WL 5611576 (D. Idaho 2015)
Kissing Camels Surgery Center, LLC v. Centura Health Corp., 2016 WL 277721 (D. Colo. 2016)
McIntosh v. United States, 2016 WL 1274585 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)

*** Of the 19 cases in which sanctions were not granted, the reasons for denying sanctions varied. Indeed, courts declined to impose sanctions because the party “took reasonable steps” to preserve data; party was not harmed by the fact the ESI was missing; there was insufficient evidence of bad faith; and the missing data was “restored through other methods.”

We all know that it can be damaging to one’s case if a party to a litigation fails to preserve relevant information.  But when, exactly, does one’s duty to preserve (potentially relevant information) arise?  And what type of sanctions are federal courts imposing under the amended federal rules for preservation failures?

When Does One’s Duty to Preserve Arise?

Different jurisdictions have different rules regarding when the duty to preserve arises but the most common standard is once that party “reasonably anticipates litigation.” This standard is well established in the federal courts and is embraced in New York (see, e.g., Voom HD Holdings LLC v EchoStar Satellite, (2010 NY Slip Op 33764(U)).

And, while it can (sometimes) be difficult to pinpoint precisely when one reasonably anticipates litigation, a recent case in the Northern District of California demonstrates one party’s blatant disregard for its obligation to preserve.  Specifically, in Mathew Enter. v. Chrysler Grp. LLC (No. 13-cv-04236-BLF, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67561 [N.D. Cal. May 23, 2016]), the plaintiff made no effort to preserve its internal or external emails after threatening the defendant with litigation.  Not only did plaintiff affirmatively change the email system it utilized for its business and did so after threatening Chrysler Group, LLC with a lawsuit, but Mathew Enterprises also failed to notify its database vendor of the litigation it threatened to file against defendant.   As a result, potentially relevant emails continued to be deleted regularly per normal business practice.  Indeed, there was no suspension of the auto-delete functionality used by Mathew Enterprises and no efforts were taken to otherwise maintain the emails.

Resulting Sanctions?

The Chrysler Group, LLC moved for sanctions against the plaintiff for the loss of these potentially relevant emails, highlighting there was no effort made to preserve and urged the court to utilize spoliation sanctions. The judge, Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, issued FRCP 37(e) sanctions.  Specifically, he expanded the scope of evidence the Chrysler Group, LLC was allowed to bring to trial and he awarded reasonable attorney’s fees.   Moreover, Judge Grewal stated, “[Plaintiff’s] lackadaisical attitude towards document preservation took away [defendant’s] opportunity. Not only has spoliation occurred, but it also has prejudiced [defendant].”

The Mathew Enterprise case is a good reminder that preservation obligations must be taken seriously as the ramifications for failing to preserve can be significant.  It is thus critical that our clients are properly advised of the need to begin preservation efforts as soon as litigation is reasonably anticipated.  (i.e., upon receipt or transmittal of a cease and desist letter, for example).

In a trademark infringement case pending in the Northern District of California (InternMatch v. Nxtbigthing, 2016 WL 491483 [N.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2016]), plaintiff requested copies of any documents relating to the defendants’ defense that it had continually and pervasively used the trademark at issue.   The defendants were not able to produce many responsive documents and advised plaintiff that a lightning strike in 2011 and a subsequent power surge in April 2015, destroyed responsive documents, including relevant corporate records.  Defendants further noted that after the power surge, they discarded certain laptops and hard drives that were damaged by the event.

Believing defendants intentionally destroyed electronic versions of responsive documents, plaintiff sought sanctions against defendants.  The Court, following the newly amended FRCP 37(e), found defendants violated their duty to preserve relevant evidence.  The Court specifically noted that defendants failed to run diagnostics on the destroyed computer following the power surge to assess whether the files on the laptop’s hard drive could be recovered prior to discarding it.  Defendants failed to take any recovery efforts despite their claim that the only electronic copies of the marketing materials allegedly establishing “previous use” of the trademark existed on that computer. The Court also found the power surge to be an implausible claim. The Court held that “at the very least, [the] defendants consciously disregarded their obligations to preserve relevant evidence,” and granted the plaintiff’s request for an adverse inference instruction sanction.

This case reminds us that under the new Rule 37(e), courts are authorized to use specific measures, including adverse inference sanctions, if relevant information that should have been preserved is lost – irrespective of the mechanism that caused the loss. The decision also serves as a good reminder that electronic information is susceptible to destruction and modifications based upon uncontrollable events — like power surges — and we remain obligated to take prompt preservative/remedial measures upon learning of such events.

In Brown Jordan Int’l v. Carmicle, 2016 WL 815827 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 2, 2016) – a case previously written about on February 11, 2016 the Court was required to determine whether certain actions taken by Christopher Carmicle (“Carmicle”), a high-ranking employee running two subsidiaries of an international furniture company,  warranted termination of his employment for cause.  In particular, the Court was required to determine whether Carmicle’s repeated access of other employees’ email accounts (including the CEO, CFO and General Counsel of the parent company) amounted to gross negligence or willful misconduct.  In connection with determining that larger issue, the Court had to resolve multiple factual and legal issues including whether Carmicle violated federal law (see BLOG Is Your Spouse’s Phone Subject to Production Under Federal Rule 45? ).  While familiarity with my prior posts is assumed, the consolidated cases were tried in a bench trial from October 27, 2015 through October 30, 2015, continued from November 2, 2015 through November 6, 2015 and then again from November 9, 2015 to November 10, 2015.  The Court ultimately concluded that Carmicle’s employment was properly terminated for cause.  Today’s blog, however, deals with the discreet issue that arose when Carmicle sought the return of his personal laptop from the company plaintiffs, who refused to release the laptop unless Carmicle could prove he paid for it with his own money.  Presumably frustrated and seeking to similarly frustrate his former employer, Carmicle remotely locked a company laptop he had in his possession, and refused to provide a password to unlock it throughout the case proceedings, rendering the laptop and its contents inaccessible.  The defendant also claimed to have lost a personal tablet and other devices containing screenshots of emails and other data.  The plaintiffs filed a motion for sanctions under the newly amended Rule 37(e) for spoliation of evidence.

It should come as no surprise that the Court determined that litigation was reasonably anticipated when the defendant destroyed or withheld data, and that he knew or should have known of his duty to preserve. Therefore, the court held that the defendant had acted with intent to deprive plaintiffs of information, and accordingly ordered an adverse inference instruction for the jury.

Even when emotions run high, it is critical that we – as counsel – remind our clients of their obligation to timely and fully comply with their discovery obligations.  The failure to timely preserve and produce all relevant data carries significant ramifications under the amended federal rules.

As most of those reading this are aware, companies/entities/agencies doing business in the US generally are not required to indefinitely preserve business records and information.  However, those companies/entities/agencies must preserve relevant information when a lawsuit or an investigation is reasonably anticipated. This duty stems from both the common law duty to prevent spoliation of evidence and certain state and federal statutes and regulations. *

A “litigation hold” or “hold notice” is an instruction within a business organization directing employees to preserve (i.e., refrain from destroying or modifying) certain paper and electronic information that may be relevant to the pending or anticipated lawsuit or investigation.

The importance of complying with one’s obligation to issue and abide by a litigation hold was recently the subject of a decision in the Southern District of New York.  In early December, Judge Sweet denied New York City’s request to unseal 850,000 criminal court records for putative class members in a civil rights class action against the City of New York (“City”).  The complaint, originally filed in 2010, alleged that the City and the NYPD had engaged in a pattern of stopping, seizing, and issuing summonses to individuals without probable cause – thus violating the class members’ civil rights by requiring officers to meet quotas of summonses issued irrespective of whether a crime had occurred or probable cause existed.  The records were sealed pursuant to a privilege codified in New York’s Penal Law.  The City argued that the records should be unsealed so that defendants could identify potential class members and then seek discovery from them in order to challenge class membership.  Judge Sweet found that the privacy interests for the absent class members far outweighed the City’s request on the eve of the close of discovery.

Barely a month later, in early January, Judge Sweet granted in part a motion for sanctions against the City and the NYPD for spoliation of evidence.  Calling upon Second Circuit case law, Judge Sweet noted that spoliation is defined as “the destruction or significant alternation of evidence, or the failure to preserve property for another’s use as evidence in pending or reasonably foreseeable litigation.”  Judge Sweet found that the City failed to implement timely a litigation hold (FN) which, when combined with the NYPD’s existing document destruction policies, resulted in the destruction of critical information and evidence.  Specifically, the lack of preservation resulted in few, if any documents being produced for key custodians.

Notably, Judge Sweet did not find that the City and the NYPD had acted in bad faith, but instead concluded that both the City and NYPD acted with gross negligence in failing to implement a litigation hold:

The failure to circulate a litigation hold, and to ensure that it was properly implemented, was particularly damaging in the context of the NYPD’s standing document retention policies, which ensured that inaction on the part of the City would result in the destruction of evidence . . . . The NYPD cannot credibly argue that, despite setting guidelines for document destruction and providing an industrial shredding truck for that purpose, it did not know or intend that documents would be destroyed.

Judge Sweet noted that he is vested with “broad discretion” in crafting a proper sanction for spoliation but should focus on three priorities when fashioning a sanction: (1) deterring parties from engaging in spoliation; (2) placing the risk of an erroneous judgment on the party who wrongfully created the risk; and (3) restoring the prejudiced party to the same position s/he would have been absent the wrongful destruction of evidence.  Against this backdrop, Judge Sweet granted a permissive inference in response to his findings, and indicated that he will instruct the jury that the absence of documentary and email evidence does not establish in this case the absence of a summons quota policy at the NYPD.

*   Although see blog posts of Aaron Zerykier on January 6, 2016 and January 21, 2016 discussing relevant standard in NY and federal courts triggering preservation.

** The City did not issue any litigation hold until August 2013 – more than three years after the filing of the Complaint in this case.  Moreover, the evidence indicated that the litigation hold was not effectively communicated and that none of the officers named in the City’s initial disclosure ever acknowledged receiving the hold.

 Stinson v. City of New York et al – 10-Civ.-04228-Spoliation

The short answer is – maybe; if there is any possibility that the information contained on the phone may be relevant to the claim or defense of any party in the lawsuit.

In this action (Brown Jordan Int’l Inc. v. Carmicle, 2015 WL 6142885 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 19, 2015)), plaintiffs sued defendant in the United States District Court for Southern District of Florida asserting a number of claims including: (a) a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (“CFAA”); (b) a violation of the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §2701; (c) a breach of fiduciary duty and the duty of loyalty; (d) conversion; (e) unjust enrichment; and (f) breach of contract and declaratory judgment (28 U.S.C. § 2201).    Defendant, Chris Carmicle, filed suit against BJI Holdings, LLC and other entities and individuals in the Circuit Court of Kentucky wherein he asserted multiple claims including: (i) wrongful termination; (ii) wrongful discharge; (iii) breach of contract; (iv) a violation of the CFAA; (v) conversion; and (vi) defamation.

Carmicle’s suit was eventually removed and consolidated in the Southern District of Florida with the original suit.

During the course of coordinated discovery, the parties entered into a Jointly Stipulated Order Setting Computer Forensic Investigation Protocol (“Ordered Protocol”). Pursuant the Ordered Protocol, Carmicle submitted his electronic devices and storage sites for forensic examination.  Based upon review of those devices and sites, BJI Holdings believed that the iPhone owned by Rashna Carmicle (“Rashna”)—Carmicle’s spouse—may contain information relating to the claims in the action.  Consequently, on September 5, 2015, BJI Holdings served a subpoena on Rashna requesting the production of her iPhone by September 11, 2015.  Rashna resisted and refused to voluntarily produce her iPhone.  BJI Holdings accordingly filed a motion to compel.

The Court, relying upon the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally, stated that the scope of discovery empowered parties to obtain discovery regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense.  Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). The Court further noted that:

a request for discovery should be considered to be seeking relevant information if there is any possibility that the information sought may be relevant to the claim or defense of any party in the action.

Against this backdrop, the Court found that the information sought from Rashna’s iPhone appeared to be relevant to the claims asserted in the action and good cause exists.   Specifically, Rashna is married to Christopher Carmicle, who is a party in both related actions pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and during the course of discovery, BJI Holdings received a forensic report indicating that Rashna’s iPhone may contain discoverable information.  In the forensic examination report, the examiner outlines data destruction that took place on one of Chris’s Macbook Air laptops and notes:

Review of additional data, including Internet history, cookie files, p-lists and log files do not document any Brown Jordan International data, covered by the scope of this investigation, having been transferred through this laptop. The exception is an Apple iTunes backup file of Rashna’s iPhone, which contains some of the original Brown Jordan International screenshots. This data was not deleted, but apparently unintentionally captured on this computer as the iPhone had been synched via iTunes in December of 2013.

Because BJI Holdings presented sufficient evidence to convince the Court that Rashna’s iPhone may contain information relevant to the claims asserted in the litigation and demonstrated good cause to seek the forensic examination of the iPhone, the burden shifted to Rashna to establish that the requested material either does not fall within the scope of relevance or is of such marginal relevance that the potential harm resulting from production outweighs the presumption in favor of broad disclosure.

Having failed to carry her burden, the Court granted BJI Holdings’ motion to compel and ordered Rashna to produce her phone for forensic examination.  The Court did, however, permit Rashna to review the material on the iPhone for privileged material prior to forensic examination.

For a long time, New York state and federal courts were out of sync with one another with regard to a litigant’s discovery obligations. For example, the state courts in New York required a party to take steps to preserve discovery materials upon the commencement of a litigation, while the federal courts required preservation upon the reasonable anticipation of litigation.  This divergence in standards placed counsel in a quagmire when advising clients, because a party did not necessarily know if their anticipated litigation would eventually be commenced in New York state or federal court.

The Appellate Division, First Department, put an end to this debate in 2012, when it adopted in VOOM HD Holdings LLC v. EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., the federal standard.  Specifically, the Appellate Division adopted the  standard for preservation set forth in Zubulake v UBS Warburg LLC (220 FRD 212 [SD NY 2004]) that, “[o]nce a party reasonably anticipates litigation, it must suspend its routine document retention/destruction policy and put in place a ‘litigation hold’ to ensure the preservation of relevant documents.”  The Voom court also adopted a negligence and gross negligence standard in analyzing ESI spoliation, holding that “[s]ince EchoStar acted in bad faith or with gross negligence in destroying the evidence, the relevance of the evidence is presumed.”

The Court of Appeals in Pegasus Aviation further adopted the negligence standard applied in Zubulake to determine if a party should be held liable for failing to timely issue a litigation hold.

Specifically, the Court of Appeals held that:

A party seeks sanctions for spoliation of evidence must show that the party having control over the evidence possessed an obligation to preserve it at the time of its destruction, that the evidence was destroyed with a “culpable state of mind,” and “that the destroyed evidence was relevant to the party’s claim or defense such that the trier of fact could find that the evidence would support that claim or defense.” On the other hand, if the evidence is determined to have been negligently destroyed, the party seeking spoliation sanctions must establish that the destroyed documents were relevant to the party’s claim or defense.

Pegasus Aviation, however, did not acknowledge that the holdings in Zubulake were recently undermined by changes to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) effective, December 1, 2015.  The change was adopted to establish a uniform standard in light of conflicting standards between the Federal Circuits: the Second, Sixth and Ninth Circuits on the one hand, which had authorized sanctions for negligent destruction of e-mails, and the First, Fifth and Tenth Circuits on the other hand which had held that mere negligence was not sufficient to obtain sanctions.  The new rules provides:

(e) Failure to Preserve Electronically Stored Information. If electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the anticipation or conduct of litigation is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, and it cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery, the court:

(1) upon finding prejudice to another party from loss of the information, may order measures no greater than necessary to cure the prejudice; or

(2) only upon finding that the party acted with the intent to deprive another party of the information’s use in the litigation may:

(A) presume that the lost information was unfavorable to the party;

(B) instruct the jury that it may or must presume the information was unfavorable to the party; or

(C) dismiss the action or enter a default judgment.

This new standard allows an adverse inference instruction only upon a finding that a party “acted with the intent to deprive another party of the information’s use in the litigation” (emphasis added).  The new Rule 37(e) removes any negligence from the standard.

Indeed, Judge Shira Scheidlin recognized that the new rule was out of step with her prior holding in Zubulake and other Second Circuit precedence.  In Sekisui American Corp. v. Hart, she noted that “[u]nder the proposed rule, parties who destroy evidence cannot be sanctioned . . . even if they were negligent, grossly negligent, or reckless in doing so” and “would require the innocent party to prove that it has been substantially prejudiced by the loss of relevant information, even where the spoliating party destroyed information willfully or in bad faith.”  This would be a change from existing Second Circuit law in that it would “abrogate” the Second Circuit’s holding in Residential Funding insofar as the Second Circuit previously held “that sanctions may be appropriate in instances where evidence is negligently destroyed.”

While the New York Court of Appeals may have intended to bring New York in line with Federal practice, and adopt what was the-then Second Circuit negligent spoliation standard, it failed to do so in as much as the Federal Rules changed just two-weeks before it issued the Pegasus Aviation decision.  Only time will tell if the Court of Appeals will revisit this issue in light of the new Federal Rules.

After sitting on the sidelines for years, the New York Court of Appeals (the highest appellate court in New York) has finally ruled on the standard to be applied to claims alleging spoliation of ESI. The decision, however, which was late in coming, places New York at odds with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  This post will address Pegasus Aviation I, Inc. v Varig Logistica, S.A. Next week’s post will address how Pegasus is at odds with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Pegasus Aviation I, Inc. v Varig Logistica, S.A. involved litigation spanning multiple continents, and attendant discovery failures.  The underlying dispute arose from the leasing of cargo airplanes in Brazil, a Brazilian bankruptcy and a shareholder dispute.  The plaintiffs not only sued the company to whom they loaned money (the “VariLog Defendants”), but also a number of third parties who purchased the assets out of bankruptcy – the “MP Defendants.”

During discovery the VariLog Defendants advised that one or more computer “crashes” impaired their ability to produce ESI. The VariLog Defendants further explained that during the operative period the company did not have an email preservation system in place, emails were stored on local machines and employee computers were routinely returned “empty.”  These practices were later halted, but subsequent computer “crashes” resulted in the loss of much of the requested ESI.

The Trial Court found that the VariLog Defendants’ failure to issue a litigation hold amounted to gross negligence, and as such relevance of the missing ESI was presumed. The Trial Court further found that because the MP Defendants had been charged by a Brazilian Court with managing and administering VariLog, they were in control of VariLog for purposes of instituting the litigation hold.  The Trial Court sanctioned the defendants by striking Varilog’s answer and imposing an adverse inference sanction against the MP Defendants.

The Appellate Division reversed the sanction. While the Appellate Division agreed on the “control” issue, it differed with the Trial Court finding that there wasn’t a showing of gross negligence, because the issuance of a litigation hold cannot be considered gross negligence per se.  The Appellate Division further placed the burden on the movant to establish that the lost ESI would have supported its claims, and failing to have done so, an adverse inference sanction was not required.  Notably, the Appellate Division decision included a concurring and a dissenting opinion.

The Court of Appeals agreed with the Trial Court and Appellate Division’s findings that the MP Defendants were sufficiently in control of VariLog to trigger an ESI litigation hold. The Court of Appeals also agreed with the Appellate Division that the failure to issue a litigation hold does not amount to gross negligence per se, but was merely one factor to be considered when determining the spoliator’s culpable state of mind.  The Court of Appeals differed, however, with the Appellate Division’s determination that the movant did not show relevance.

Specifically, the Court of Appeals found that:

A party that seeks sanctions for spoliation of evidence must show that the party having control over the evidence possessed an obligation to preserve it at the time of its destruction, that the evidence was destroyed with a “culpable state of mind,” and “that the destroyed evidence was relevant to the party’s claim or defense such that the trier of fact could find that the evidence would support that claim or defense.” On the other hand, if the evidence is determined to have been negligently destroyed, the party seeking spoliation sanctions must establish that the destroyed documents were relevant to the party’s claim or defense.

The Court of Appeals remanded the litigation to the Trial Court for a determination as to whether the negligently destroyed evidence was relevant to the claims against the defendants, and if so, the appropriate sanction (if the Trial Court deems one warranted).

In reaching its decision the Court of Appeals relied on the Appellate Division, First Department’s decision in VOOM HD Holdings LLC v EchoStar Satellite L.L.C. (93 AD3d 33, 45 [1st Dept 2012]), and the Southern District’s Zubulake v UBS Warburg LLC (220 FRD 212, 220 [SD NY 2004]).  The Zubulake burden shifting rubric has been placed into doubt by recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  More on that next week

Giuliani v. Springfield Township, No. 10-7518, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74174 (E.D. Pa. June 9, 2015)

In the Third Circuit, mere negligence is not enough to support a claim of spoliation.

In this zoning dispute involving claims of civil rights violations and tortious interference with contractual relations, the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for spoliation sanctions where they could adduce no evidence that any records were destroyed in bad faith once the defendants anticipated litigation.  According to the court, any deletion of e-mails resulted from the Township’s “inadvertence, negligence, inexplicable foolishness, or part of the normal activities of business or daily living.” None of which amounted to bad faith.

The plaintiffs, property owners in the defendant Township, alleged an “unremitting campaign of harassment and discrimination, spanning the better part of fifteen years, aimed at divesting plaintiffs of every economically viable use of their property.” The zoning dispute ended in 2009, but the plaintiffs did not file their lawsuit two years later in January 2011.

Despite a “protracted discovery process,” the plaintiffs claimed the defendants “made no substantial or reasonable effort to identify and retain relevant documents” and destroyed internal e-mail correspondence, land development application files for other properties in the Township, and Planning Commission Board minutes.

The judge evaluated the claims under a four-part test for spoliation: “(1) the evidence was in the party’s control, (2) the evidence is relevant, (3) there was ‘actual suppression or withholding of the evidence,’ and (4) ‘the duty to preserve the evidence was reasonably foreseeable to the party.’” The judge decided that the documents were relevant and under the defendants’ control. However, he disagreed that the defendants had a duty to preserve the evidence because – according to the judge – defendants believed all issues relating to the plaintiffs’ land development applications had been resolved until two years later when the lawsuit was filed.

The court also disagreed with the plaintiffs’ contention that the defendants’ discovery efforts were “feeble” because they failed to issue a written hold notice. Rather, the Township Manager met face to face with employees in the “very small organization” so he could “make sure that they knew what [he] was looking for.” And, the Township’s lawyer requested staff to gather all records relating to the property at issue, which he then collected and preserved. Once the Township Manager knew of the plaintiffs’ request for additional records for other properties, the staff saved them as well. The court found these efforts sufficient and denied the plaintiffs’ motion.

Giuliani v. Springfield Township, No. 10-7518, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74174 (E.D. Pa. June 9, 2015).

Word to the wise to those practitioners representing smaller businesses (and small business owners) – rather than allow your client to follow a haphazard document retention enforcement policy, encourage the company to automate its processes to ensure it follows a consistent, documented, and defensible procedure.

Clear-View Technologies, Inc. v John H. Rasnick, et al (2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63579), reads as a list of the things you do not want to do if you want to avoid spoliation sanctions. The underlying dispute involved the development of an alcohol tracking product, and certain shareholders’ alleged conspiracy to steal the technology and start a new company.

The defendants, however, forgot they had discovery obligations (or they were not properly informed about them by their attorneys). After being on notice of a potential litigation, through a text message where they were threatened with a lawsuit, the defendants failed to take any steps to preserve discovery. Instead, they continued to delete emails and dispose of technology (like iPhones, iPads and computers). They also never even tried to do a fulsome search for responsive materials, but still certifying that they searched for and produced all of their ESI.

Defendants’ discovery failures led the court to require the defendants to turn over all of their devices to an outside consultant to review. This is where things went from bad to worse. The consultant found almost 2,600 relevant documents, totaling almost 12,500 pages of materials the defendants did not produce (12,000 more pages than the defendants entire production). The forensic examiners also found that four separate optimization and computer cleaning programs was run on one of the laptops (including “crap cleaner”) which can be used to “wipe specific files and programs.” This was done six-days after the filing of the motion to compel. The defendants also purged outlook files from an external hard drive and purportedly were unable to provide passwords for certain email accounts.

All in all, the court was not accepting the defendants’ actions lightly. The court issued an adverse inference sanction and over $200,000 in attorney’s fees (though it declined to issue a termination sanction regarding defendants’ counterclaim). Adding insult to injury, the defendants stiffed the forensic expert, even though the court had ordered that they pay its fees. The court therefore issued an order to show cause as to why additional sanctions should not be issued.