Government Sanctioned For Destruction Of Documents

U.S. district court decision may now allow defendants in False Claims Act cases to obtain sanctions where potentially relevant documents are lost or destroyed due to the government's failure to issue a timely litigation hold.

In United States ex rel. Baker v. Community Health Systems, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico upheld Magistrate Judge Alan Torgerson's recommendation of sanctions against the federal government for failing to issue a timely and adequate litigation hold.¹ The court held that sanctions were appropriate because the government's actions resulted in the destruction of electronically stored information (ESI) that could have been helpful to Community Health Systems' defense.