Giurca v. Montefiore Health System, Inc.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:18-cv-11505
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Giurca v. Montefiore Health System, Judge Moses granted defendants’ discovery-sanctions request in part, ordering forensic searches, evidence preservation, and fees.
Dan Giurca and his counsel were required to preserve and search electronically stored information, produce additional discovery, and potentially pay the defendants’ reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees. The defendants could receive the additional discovery and seek an assessment of the fees and costs.
What happened
In Giurca v. Montefiore Health System, the defendants sought sanctions and other relief after Dan Giurca did not timely produce audio recordings and other relevant electronically stored information from his devices.
The court ordered Giurca to preserve the information, turn over his two cellphones to his lawyer for a forensic search, and produce any additional discoverable material by August 28, 2020. The court also ruled that the defendants were entitled to reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees related to the discovery dispute and Giurca’s renewed deposition.
Judge Barbara Moses granted the defendants’ request in part. The order also required Giurca to produce documents concerning a public-records request for New York State Department of Health findings.
The detailed version
- Giurca v. Montefiore Health System, Inc. · No. 1:18-cv-11505
- Edgardo Ramos
- Aug. 12, 2020
Background
The court reviewed a declaration from Robert Sadowski, the defendants’ response, and the presentations of counsel during an August 12, 2020 telephone conference. The defendants had requested discovery sanctions and related relief in a July 20, 2020 letter. The opinion states that it was undisputed that Giurca had failed to timely produce numerous audio recordings covered by the defendants’ document requests. The recordings were stored on his laptop computer and/or two Samsung cellphones.
Ruling
The court granted the defendants’ request for discovery sanctions and related relief in part under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(5) and the court’s inherent authority to sanction discovery misconduct.
The court reminded Giurca of his continuing duty to preserve discoverable evidence, including audio recordings, emails, text messages, and text messages or other electronically stored information relevant to any claim or defense. Pending the forensic examination or further court order, he was directed not to alter, delete, or modify such information stored on his laptop or cellphones, whether or not he believed the material was relevant.
The court ordered Giurca to promptly give both cellphones to his counsel, Robert Sadowski. Counsel was directed to arrange for a competent information-technology professional to search the phones for undisclosed discoverable material and extract that material for production to the defendants, at Giurca’s expense. The court allowed the phones to be handled one at a time if reasonably practicable. By August 28, 2020, Giurca, through counsel, was required to produce all previously undisclosed discoverable electronically stored information and provide an affidavit or sworn declaration describing the search and extraction process. If the process found additional material that should previously have been produced, the defendants could renew their request to examine Giurca’s laptop.
Fees and Costs
The court ruled that the defendants were entitled to reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, for responding to Giurca’s July 13 and 14 letter-motions, pursuing their own sanctions request, and conducting his renewed deposition. The order assessed those expenses and fees jointly and separately against Giurca and his counsel. If the parties could not agree on the amount, the defendants could file an application by August 24, 2020, and Giurca could respond by August 31, 2020. The filings were limited to the amount of the sanction.
Freedom of Information Law Request
The court also ordered Giurca to produce, by August 14, 2020, copies of a recently made New York State Freedom of Information Law request for the same New York State Department of Health findings discussed in his unsuccessful July 13 and 14 letter-motions, along with related documents concerning efforts to obtain those findings outside discovery in the action.
Effect of the Order
This was a discovery-related order. It did not decide the underlying claims between Giurca and the defendants. The order was signed by United States Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.