Evidence—Withholding Original Documents and Producing Copies for Trial Constitutes Spoliation Warranting Adverse Inference—Bull v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 665 F.3d 68 (3d Cir. 2012)

When a party to litigation destroys relevant evidence, the judge may issue sanctions under the court’s inherent and statutory authority to punish spoliation of evidence.  The adverse inference sanction permits or compels the jury to conclude the destroyed evidence would have harmed the party responsible for its loss.  In Bull v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confronted the issue of whether the production of copies in lieu of original documents constitutes spoliation of evidence, and whether such action warrants the harsh sanction of dismissal, or a lesser sanction such as an adverse inference.  The Third Circuit held that Bull spoliated evidence by producing copies in place of originals because the authenticity of such documents cannot be evaluated; dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim, however, was determined too harsh a sanction. . .