Where plaintiffs sued for $500,000 in flood damages to a bus and trailer, but disposed of the bus and trailer shortly after the flood before defendant could examine the alleged damages, the Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of the gross negligence claim based on spoliation of evidence. In Legacy Five…
Where a plaintiff in a tractor-trailer accident case unintentionally allowed the tractor at issue to be destroyed, dismissal of the case was ruled an appropriate remedy for spoliation of evidence. In Gardner v. R&J Express, LLC, No. E2017-00823-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 7, 2018), plaintiff owned a tractor truck that…
What is it with drillers and spoliation of evidence cases? First it was Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Mid-South Drillers Supply, Inc. which is a Tennessee leading case on the subject. And now, we have a new spoliation case with a different drilling company, Griffith Services Drilling, LLC v. Arrow Gas…
The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that there is not cause of action for the negligent spoliation of evidence in that state. In Cole Vision Corp. v. Hobbs, No. 26988 (S.C. 6/20/11) the defendant counterclaimed and sued plaintiff for negligent spoliation of evidence. Defendant maintained that plaintiff lost a…
New Jersey has a well-developed body of case law on the issue of spoliation of evidence. Tartaglia v. UBS PaineWebber, Inc., 961 A.2d 1167 (N.J. 2008) sets forth the history of the development of the law in the state. On August 3, 2010 the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued yet…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently ruled that federal law applies to determination what sanctions should be available for relief of spoiled evidence in federal question cases. The en banc decision reversed precedent and brought the circuit in line with other appellate courts. An excerpt: …