In litigation, “spoliation of evidence” occurs when a litigant, intentionally or negligently, disposes of crucial items of evidence before their adversary has an opportunity to inspect them. See generally New York Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI) 1:77; New York Motions in Limine § 9:24 (2024 ed.). As explained by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
Read More Spoliation of Evidence in New York Civil LitigationDepositions are a part of the pre-trial “discovery” stage of litigation, in which a witness is questioned under oath, while their testimony is transcribed by a court reporter. They often occur outside the presence of a judge. One issue that arises is the alleged “coaching” of a witness by their attorney. In a recent case,…
Read More Court Discusses Deposition Sanctions in Employment Discrimination CaseA recent decision, Martinez v. Lincoln Center (Sup. Ct. Bx. Cty. Apr. 8, 2015), illustrates that attorneys who engage in obstructionist conduct at depositions do so at their peril. In this personal injury action, plaintiff, a laborer, was injured when he slipped and fell on debris in an underground garage at Lincoln Center. The court granted…
Read More Violation of Deposition Rules Results in $250 Sanction Against Defense Attorney in Personal Injury CaseIn Strong v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department recently held that sanctions were appropriate in light of the NYPD’s deletion of audio recordings preceding a car accident allegedly initiated by an NYPD driver. Plaintiff and others were injured when an NYPD vehicle “collided with a vehicle operated by defendant Geraldo Falcon,…
Read More Deletion of Radio Transmissions Results in Sanctions in NYPD Car Accident CaseA plaintiff (Thomas) recently saw his more than $600,000 jury verdict in a civil rights case against the NYPD crumble to dust due to an undisclosed agreement with a fact witness (Marrow) who testified in his favor. The court’s decision in the case, Thomas v. City of New York, is here. There, the court granted defendants’ motion…
Read More Substantial False Arrest Jury Verdict Tossed Because of Undisclosed Agreement Between Plaintiff And Key Fact WitnessThis week in Wilson v. Pasquale’s DaMarino’s, Inc., 2013 WL 1195603, 10-cv-2709 (March 25, 2013) – a discrimination and wage/hour lawsuit brought by several restaurant workers – Southern District Judge Paul Gardephe issued a stern warning to litigants that flouting court deadlines and misrepresenting facts to the court will not be tolerated, and that such…
Read More Angry federal court enters default judgment as sanction for repeated litigation abusesGilchrist v. City of New York, decided on March 7, 2013, contains an important lesson for plaintiffs’ lawyers in personal injury cases: wherever possible, make sure to specifically request that certain pieces of evidence be preserved. Here, the defendants’ failure to preserve such specifically requested evidence resulted in sanctions for spoliation of evidence. In this…
Read More Defendants’ Spoliation of Evidence Results in Adverse Inference Charge and Denial of Summary Judgment MotionEmployment cases are often difficult to prove, and even the best-intentioned litigants with objectively reasonable factual and legal support for their claim(s) sometimes lose. It happens. Case outcomes are very difficult to predict, due to a variety of factors. A Memorandum and Order issued by Southern District Judge J. Paul Oetken last week in Tucker…
Read More Federal Judge Slams Lawyer For Making Baseless Allegations In Employment Case