Takeaway: Many employers allow employees to use their personal cellphones to conduct business, and few have policies governing that data. In this case, a Texas federal court denied an employer summary judgment against its former employee's discrimination claim because a supervisor deleted texts he sent after receiving a litigation hold letter. This case shows that all employers that do not provide company cellphones should have a policy that instructs employees to preserve all business data on personal devices.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently ruled that a company violated its duty to preserve documents and evidence when a supervisor deleted texts related to an employee who was laid off. On June 6, the court denied the company's motion for summary judgment, sending the case to trial.
The plaintiff was laid off after working for Perspecta, a government contractor in Laurel, Md., and its predecessors for 27 years. He sued for breach of contract; negligent misrepresentation; declaratory judgment; fraud; violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act; and race, color and age discrimination.
In May 2021, Peraton, a technology company and government contractor, acquired Perspecta. At the time of the acquisition, the plaintiff was working as a senior supply chain business partner manager, also referred to as a program manager. His supervisor at the time of the merger gave him a positive performance review for the year leading up to the merger.
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