Discovery Violations Sink Plaintiff’s Case

We successfully barred all of the plaintiffs’ liability expert reports and testimony against our client, a septic installer, as sanctions for intentional spoliation of evidence in the case. The plaintiffs brought suit for alleged negligent installation of a septic system that they claim caused them bodily injuries and economic damages. During the pendency of this litigation, and well into the discovery period, the plaintiffs and their experts performed extensive and invasive environmental testing on the property for longer than three months, which was intentionally concealed from the defendants. We obtained the information through a third-party fact witness at deposition, who then provided us with a draft copy of the plaintiffs’ liability report that was supplied to him. That report detailed the many months of destructive testing that the plaintiffs and their experts had performed. The defense moved to bar all of the plaintiffs’ liability reports and testimony at the time of trial due to their egregious discovery violations. The court agreed, granting all requested relief.