Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Spoliation as Tort — New York Rejects Cause of Action for Third-Party Negligent Spoliation of Evidence

The New York Court of Appeals held on October 16, 2007, that the tort of third-party negligent spoliation of evidence is not cognizable in the state. Ortega v. City of New York, 2007 NY Slip Op 7741; 2007 N.Y. LEXIS 2715 (Ct. App. Oct. 16, 2007). Because of the remedies available to litigants to deal with spoliation by parties to a lawsuit, few states have elected to recognize an independent cause of action for spoliation as between the parties. Where the spoliation is effected by a third party, as to whom the litigants have no other remedy, however, there is greater judicial willingness to accept the need for an independent tort, provided that the spoliator did not act innocently or lack any duty to preserve. This issue, and some of the relevant cases, are discussed in the article (available on the Recent Articles page) entitled: Spoliation: Truth or Consequences.

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Recent Posts

Archives