Storz Management Company et al v. Carey et al
Filing
151
ORDER signed by District Judge Troy L. Nunley on 2/9/2021 DENYING 92 Motion for Reconsideration. (Zignago, K.)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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STORZ MANAGEMENT COMPANY, a
California Corporation, and STORZ
REALTY, INC.,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
No. 2:18-cv-00068-TLN-DB
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF
THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S RULING
ANDREW CAREY, an individual, and
MARK WEINER, an individual,
Defendants.
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This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs Storz Management Company (“SMC”) and
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Storz Realty, Inc.’s (“SRI”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) Motion for Reconsideration of the
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Magistrate Judge’s Ruling denying Plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions. (ECF No. 92.) Defendants
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Andrew Carey (“Carey”) and Mark Weiner (“Weiner”) (collectively “Defendants”) filed an
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opposition. (ECF No. 96.) Plaintiffs filed a reply. (ECF No. 97.) For the reasons set forth
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below, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.
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I.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
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Plaintiffs allege that Defendants, who were SMC’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief
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Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer, secretly started a competing business while employed
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by SMC. (ECF No. 7 at 2.) Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on January 30,
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2018, stating claims for: (1) violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act; 2) breach of fiduciary
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duty; (3) breach of contract; (4) breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (5)
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intentional interference with contractual relationship; (6) fraud; (7) violation of California’s
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Unfair Competition Law and (8) violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (See id.)
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On June 3, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a motion for terminating, evidentiary, and/or monetary
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sanctions based on Defendants’ alleged spoliation of evidence. (ECF No. 78.) Plaintiffs alleged,
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among other things, that Defendants copied files from SMC-issued computers and servers onto
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USB drives and then deleted the original files. (ECF No. 79 at 2.) Plaintiffs further alleged
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Defendants subsequently lost the USB drives they used to copy the information from the SMC
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computers. (Id.) According to Plaintiffs, Defendants’ actions have irreversibly damaged
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Plaintiffs’ ability to present their case. (Id. at 3.) The magistrate judge denied Plaintiffs’ motion
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for sanctions on June 25, 2019. (ECF No. 90.) Plaintiffs filed the instant motion for
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reconsideration of the magistrate judge’s ruling on July 10, 2019. (ECF No. 92.)
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II.
STANDARD OF LAW
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A party may seek reconsideration of a magistrate judge’s ruling pursuant to Local Rule
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303(c). See also Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). The request must specify “the ruling, or part thereof,
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objected to and the basis for that objection.” L.R. 303(c). The district court reviews the
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magistrate judge’s ruling under the “clearly erroneous or contrary to law” standard set forth in 28
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U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). L.R. 303(f); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). “[R]eview under the clearly
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erroneous standard is significantly deferential, requiring a definite and firm conviction that a
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mistake has been committed.” Exxon Co. v. Sofec Inc., 54 F.3d 570, 576 (9th Cir. 1995), aff’d,
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517 U.S. 830 (1996).
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III.
ANALYSIS
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Plaintiffs argue the Court should reverse the magistrate judge’s denial of sanctions for
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three reasons. First, Plaintiffs argue that the magistrate judge applied an incorrect legal standard
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in concluding Plaintiffs failed to prove willful spoliation. (ECF No. 92 at 3.) Second, Plaintiffs
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argue the magistrate judge erred in concluding there was insufficient evidence that relevant
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evidence was “lost.” (Id. at 7.) Third, Plaintiffs argue the magistrate judge erred in finding they
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had not shown prejudice. (Id. at 9.)
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A district court may sanction a party who has despoiled evidence under two sources of
authority: “the inherent power of federal courts to levy sanctions in response to abusive litigation
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practices, and the availability of sanctions under Rule 37 against a party who ‘fails to obey an
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order to provide or permit discovery.’” Leon v. IDX Sys. Corp., 464 F.3d 951, 958 (9th Cir.
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2006). To determine whether spoliation occurred, courts generally consider a three-part test: “(1)
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that the party having control over the evidence had an obligation to preserve it at the time it was
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destroyed; (2) that the records were destroyed with a ‘culpable state of mind;’ and (3) that the
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evidence was ‘relevant’ to the party’s claim or defense such that a reasonable trier of fact could
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find that it would support that claim or defense.” Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., 888 F. Supp.
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2d 976, 989–90 (N.D. Cal. 2012) (citing cases).
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If spoliation is found, then courts determine whether and what type of sanctions to issue
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based on several factors: “(1) the degree of fault of the party who altered or destroyed the
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evidence; (2) the degree of prejudice suffered by the opposing party; and (3) whether there is a
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lesser sanction that will avoid substantial unfairness to the opposing party.” Id. at 992. While a
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court does not need to make explicit findings regarding each of the following factors in deciding
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whether to impose the “harsh sanction” of dismissal, it should consider “(1) the public’s interest
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in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage its dockets; (3) the risk of
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prejudice to the party seeking sanctions; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on the
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merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic sanctions.” Leon, 464 F.3d at 958 (quoting
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Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Natural Beverage Distributors 69 F.3d 337, 348 (9th Cir. 1995)).
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Additionally, a finding of “willfulness, fault, or bad faith” is required for dismissal to be proper.
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Id. “A party’s destruction of evidence qualifies as willful spoliation if the party has ‘some notice
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that the documents were potentially relevant to the litigation before they were destroyed.’” Id. at
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959 (citation omitted) (emphasis in original).
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The magistrate judge adequately articulated this legal standard. (ECF No. 90 at 5–7.)
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After weighing the evidence, the magistrate judge concluded there was insufficient evidence that
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Defendants’ alleged destruction of evidence was willful. (Id. at 7.) More specifically, the
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magistrate judge found that Defendants put forth an “equally plausible explanation” for their
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actions that showed a lack of willfulness. (Id.) As will be discussed in more detail below, the
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Court has reviewed the parties’ evidence and agrees with the magistrate judge.
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In opposing Plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions, Defendants filed declarations asserting that
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they took steps to protect personal information they stored on SMC-issued laptops. (ECF No. 85-
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2 at ¶¶ 58–60; ECF No. 85-3 at ¶¶ 9–10.) Defendants assert SMC had no policy preventing them
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from using their SMC laptops for personal purposes and they complied with past practices in
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removing their information from SMC computers upon their termination. (ECF No. 85-2 at ¶¶
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55–56; ECF No. 85-3 at ¶¶ 6–8.) Carey states that he believed all SMC-related information
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would be stored on SMC’s computer network such that a factory reset would not cause any harm
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to SMC. (ECF No. 85-2 at ¶ 59.) He also states that he had no reason to believe SMC would be
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suing him. (Id. at ¶ 60.) Weiner states that within days of his firing, he purchased a Western
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external hard drive and backed up the data stored locally on his SMC laptop. (ECF No. 85-3 at ¶
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9.) He also states that he turned the hard drive over to his counsel and has not had any access to it
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since that time. (Id.) These plausible explanations undermine Plaintiffs’ argument that
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Defendants’ actions constitute “uncontroverted” evidence of spoliation. (ECF No. 92 at 4.) As
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such, the magistrate judge did not err by finding that Plaintiffs failed to establish that Defendants
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acted with a level of culpability to justify sanctions, particularly the severe sanctions Plaintiffs
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seek. See Leon, 464 F.3d at 958.
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Alternatively, the magistrate judge also stated that “aside from vague and conclusory
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assertions, [P]laintiffs’ motion fails to establish that any evidence relevant to a claim or defense
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was in fact lost.” (ECF No. 90 at 7 (emphasis added).) The magistrate judge emphasized that
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Plaintiffs failed to execute a forensic plan to examine what might have been stolen, despite
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asserting that they had designed a plan to do so. (Id.) The magistrate judge also emphasized that
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Weiner’s data transfer was accomplished via a Western hard drive that was turned over to defense
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counsel, but the hard drive had yet to be examined as of the date of the magistrate judge’s order.
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(Id. at 7–8.) Based on this evidence suggesting that at least some of the files may still exist on
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other devices, it is unclear what files, if any, have been irretrievably lost. Plaintiffs seem to argue
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that even if all the transferred files still exist, the metadata information (including original file
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names, file paths, and the dates associated with the files) was permanently lost. (ECF No. 97 at
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4.) However, Plaintiffs fail to explain how the metadata goes to the “heart” of their claims. See
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Leon, 464 F.3d at 960. Along those lines, the magistrate judge found that Plaintiffs “provide[d]
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no information from which the undersigned could determine to what extent, or even if, the ability
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to reach a rightful decision has been impaired by Defendants’ actions.” (ECF No. 90 at 8.)
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Without that information, the magistrate judge was unable to ascertain what sanctions might be
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appropriate. (Id. at 9–10.) The Court agrees that there is insufficient evidence in the current
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record to establish “the degree of prejudice suffered” by Plaintiffs and impose sanctions
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accordingly. Apple Inc., 888 F. Supp. 2d at 992; Leon, 464 F.3d at 958. Therefore, the magistrate
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judge did not err in declining to impose any sanctions for Defendants’ conduct.
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It appears to this Court that Plaintiffs merely disagree with the magistrate judge’s
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findings. That is not a proper basis for reconsideration. See Simmons v. Grissom, No. 1:07-cv-
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01058-LJO-SAB (PC), 2015 WL 6847885, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 9, 2015) (quoting U.S. v.
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Westlands Water Dist., 134 F. Supp. 2d 1111, 1131 (E.D. Cal. March 13, 2001)) (“[M]otions for
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reconsideration are not available to dissatisfied litigants as a vehicle by which to require the same
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judge or a different judge to rethink a decision, and a Plaintiff’s disagreement with the Magistrate
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Judge’s does not provide a basis for reconsideration.”).
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Having carefully reviewed the relevant documents and for the reasons set forth above, the
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Court is not left with “a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Exxon
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Co., 54 F.3d at 576. Accordingly, the Court finds the magistrate judge did not err in denying
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Plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions.
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IV.
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For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration.
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CONCLUSION
(ECF No. 92.)
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February 9, 2021
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Troy L. Nunley
United States District Judge
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