United States ex rel. King v. Dse, Inc.
United States ex rel. King v. Dse, Inc.
| Case Date: | 01/17/2013 |
| Court Type: | Federal District |
| Court: | Middle District of Florida (M.D. Fla.) |
| Judge: | Federal Magistrate Judge: Elizabeth A. Jenkins |
| Rule(s): | Rule 37 |
| Issues: | Whether the spoliation sanctions are appropriate when potentially very damaging video diaries and hard drives were lost by plaintiff and when he had made multiple misrepresentations to opposing counsel and to the court to their existence and their loss. |
| Resolution: | The court ordered sanctions and dismissed the case with prejudice against the plaintiff. He had failed his duty to preserve by not backing up the files, and despite knowing the identity of those who had stolen the files, he took no actions in recovering the files from them. Further, he had acted in bad faith making contradictory statements to his ownership of the files, the date and other details of the burglary, and when he filed the burglary to the police. His actions unduly prejudiced defense counsel and were in bad faith despite repeated warnings by the court regarding his conduct. |
| Relevant Documents: | Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 232) Response to Motions for Sanctions (Doc. 247) Reply to Response to Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 249) Report and Recommendation to Motion for Sanctions (Doc. 274) |
| E-Discovery Issues: | Motion for Sanctions, Motion for Spoliation, Motion to Dismiss |
| E-discovery Tags: | Data Recovery, Data Retention, Sanctions |
| E-discovery subjects: | Electronically stored information, Hard drive, Video |