Opinion ID: 172099
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lost Documents

Text: Turner's last argument concerns missing notes the interviewers took during the 2000 and 2004 hiring sessions, which the interviewers used to assess the applicants' interview performances and assign interview scores. Turner claims that because PSCo allegedly lost or refused to produce the notes, she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her Title VII claim. PSCo argues it did not intentionally withhold the interview notes, but that they were apparently lost in transit when they were mailed from the Comanche Power Plant to PSCo's central staffing office in Minneapolis. [5] During discovery, PSCo produced thousands of pages of documents, including 195 pages related to the 2000 and 2004 hirings. Because the documents did not include the interview notes from the 2000 and 2004 hirings, Turner filed a motion to compel in the district court, seeking an accounting of the missing interview notes and arguing that she was entitled to an adverse instruction. App. Vol. II at 244. The district court referred the motion to a magistrate judge, who issued an order denying the motion because of its overbreadth. Turner did not appeal the magistrate judge's order to the district judge, nor did she move for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 for PSCo's nondisclosure. Instead, she argued in her response brief to PSCo's motion for summary judgment that she was left without any ability to challenge the interview scoring because PSCo failed to produce the 2000 and 2004 interview notes. App. Vol. I at 54. PSCo interpreted Turner's argument as a spoliation of evidence claim. If Turner prevailed on this claim, the district court could have imposed various sanctions on PSCo for nondisclosure of the interview notes, including an adverse inference that the lost interview notes would have proved Turner's claim of pretext. See, e.g., Henning v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 530 F.3d 1206, 1220 (10th Cir.2008). PSCo argued in its summary judgment reply brief that Turner failed to provide evidence of bad faith on the part of PSCo and therefore could not prove she was entitled to an adverse inference under her spoliation theory. In its order granting summary judgment for PSCo, the district court noted that Turner failed to specify what relief she seeks based on PSCo's inability to produce these [interview] notes. App. Vol. I at 80. The court concluded there was no evidence of bad faith on the part of PSCo, and even if PSCo had been negligent with respect to the interview notes, its negligence would not have created a triable issue of fact as to whether the decision not to hire Turner was pretextual. Turner again presses her spoliation claim on appeal. She argues that PSCo was required under 29 C.F.R. § 1602.14 to retain the interview notes until final disposition of Turner's discrimination charge. She further contends that she suffered prejudice because she now lacks evidence to challenge the interviewers' assessments of her interview performance. Finally, she alleges that PSCo acted in bad faith when it failed to produce the interview notes. Even in cases where employers destroy evidence they are required to retain under 29 C.F.R. § 1602.14, plaintiffs must be diligent in the defense of their own interests, and should seek sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 to remedy any prejudice caused by spoliation. See Mathis v. John Morden Buick, Inc., 136 F.3d 1153, 1156 (7th Cir.1998). When a plaintiff fails to seek sanctions under Rule 37 and thus forecloses access to the substantial weaponry in the district court's arsenal, the plaintiff's only remaining option is to seek sanctions under a spoliation of evidence theory. Id. at 1155; see also Aramburu v. Boeing Co., 112 F.3d 1398, 1407 (10th Cir.1997) (applying the spoliation of evidence doctrine in a discrimination case). Spoliation sanctions are proper when (1) a party has a duty to preserve evidence because it knew, or should have known, that litigation was imminent, and (2) the adverse party was prejudiced by the destruction of the evidence. Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. Grant, 505 F.3d 1013, 1032 (10th Cir.2007). But if the aggrieved party seeks an adverse inference to remedy the spoliation, it must also prove bad faith. Mere negligence in losing or destroying records is not enough because it does not support an inference of consciousness of a weak case. Aramburu, 112 F.3d at 1407. Without a showing of bad faith, a district court may only impose lesser sanctions. Henning, 530 F.3d at 1220. We review a district court's finding of bad faith or mere negligence for clear error, id., and the district court's decision to impose or deny spoliation sanctions for abuse of discretion. Grant, 505 F.3d at 1032. The district court did not clearly err in concluding that PSCo lacked bad faith. Considering the record as a whole, we cannot say the district court's finding was without factual support, nor do we have a definite and firm conviction that the district court's finding was a mistake. See Aquila, Inc. v. C.W. Mining Co., 545 F.3d 1258, 1263 (10th Cir.2008). PSCo provided evidence, in the form of an email from Edmisson to a staff member in Minneapolis, that Edmisson attempted to send the interview notes to Minneapolis before Turner filed her charge of discrimination. Additionally, PSCo produced numerous documents relating to the 2000 and 2004 hiring, including Edmisson's hiring plan, Turner's 2004 interview score sheet, a document revealing the scores of each candidate interviewed in 2004, and PSCo's Competency-Based Interview Guide. See Aramburu, 112 F.3d at 1407 (though the employer lost pertinent employment records, any inference of bad faith is undermined by the other [ ] records produced by [the employer]). Finally, PSCo made Edmisson available for a deposition by Turner's counsel, during which Edmisson answered extensive questions regarding the interview process and his decision not to hire Turner. The record as a whole therefore does not suggest that PSCo acted in bad faith when it lost the 2000 and 2004 interview notes, and Turner was not entitled to an inference that the lost interview notes would have proved her pretext claim. See id. (because the record did not support a finding of bad faith, the plaintiff had not shown himself entitled to an adverse inference under the spoilation doctrine). The court moreover did not abuse its discretion when it refused to impose a lesser sanction to remedy PSCo's alleged spoliation. Assuming PSCo had a duty to retain the interview notes under the spoliation doctrine, there is no evidence that Turner was actually, rather than merely theoretically prejudiced by their loss. See Grant, 505 F.3d at 1032-33. As noted above, Turner had access to a significant amount of evidence regarding the interview process and her performance during the 2004 interview. Turner herself admitted in deposition testimony that she performed poorly during her 2004 interview. Her interview score sheet confirmed this admission, as did Edmisson's deposition testimony. Turner has presented no evidence suggesting that Edmisson or anyone else at PSCo made their decisions based upon a bias against women, and it is unlikely that the sole reason why Turner has been unable to prove her claim is the loss of the interview notes.