Simple Mistakes Lead To Discovery Sanctions Against Delta Air Lines

Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., of the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, imposed discovery sanctions against Delta Air Lines after it failed to disclose documents contained in backup tapes and hard drives that had been inadvertently overlooked by Delta's counsel and IT personnel. The opinion is In re Delta/Airtran Baggage Fee Antitrust Litigation, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13462 (N.D. Ga. February 3, 2012). 

In the underlying action, Plaintiffs allege that Delta conspired with other airlines to impose a baggage fee on a passenger's first bag. During discovery, Plaintiffs served Delta with document requests, seeking all documents related to its decision to impose a first-bag fee on its air passengers. Delta responded by producing approximately 103,000 pages of documents prior to the close of discovery. Delta made a similar production to the Department of Justice, which was also investigating the baggage fees.