Attorneys say a recent sanctions order for spoliation of evidence in an employment dispute highlights the importance of counsel on both sides of litigation proactively identifying and preserving all potentially relevant information as early as possible.
After plaintiff Daniel McLaughlin, an account executive with defendant Lenovo Global Technology, was terminated, he demanded payment of more than $100,000 in allegedly unpaid commissions and business expenses — a request Lenovo denied.
It was allegedly the first time McLaughlin had demanded such compensation, and his request was apparently based on documentation kept on his company laptop, which he held onto following his departure in violation of company policy. He did not return the laptop or its contents, which he allegedly downloaded onto two SD cards, until more than a year after his termination and after he had brought suit against his former employer.
“The case is also a good reminder that simply copying information from a computer onto an external memory device is not sufficient preservation of a laptop.”
Lenovo learned during discovery that McLaughlin wiped the laptop clean, erasing all information on the hard drive, and moved for sanctions.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein granted the motion, rejecting McLaughlin’s arguments that he wiped the laptop before his reimbursement request was denied, that he only did so for technical reasons relating to an expiring license on its operating system, and that he...
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