Adverse Inference for Possible Spoliation Used to Deny Summary Judgment
The Middle District of Georgia denied a summary judgment motion this month in part because of an adverse inference for possible spoliation of electronic evidence. Morgan v. U.S. Xpress, Inc. is a case for personal injuries arising out of a motor vehicle wreck in which the plaintiff argued that a tractor-trailer cut him off. The defendant denied that any of its trucks was involved, and argued the plaintiff either was in a single-vehicle accident or some other company's truck was involved in the wreck.
The plaintiff asked the defendant company to produce its computer data from its satellite positioning system (presumably GPS). The defendant stated that the data was no longer available, while the plaintiff claimed that it was backed up on tape and destroyed well-after litigation was underway.
The Georgia District Court decided that a reasonable jury could conclude at trial that the defendant's failure to preserve the computer data was predicated in bad faith. The Court therefore denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The Court stated that evidence presented by the plaintiff, "when coupled with the adverse inference that may be drawn from U.S. Xpress's possible spoliation of evidence, raises a genuine issue of material fact and allows Plaintiffs to avoid summary judgment."
(Thanks to the Electronic Discovery Law Blog).