Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 390
released 3 million gallons of toxic waste into neighboring waterways. Following
settlements between the U.S. Government, New Mexico, and the Navajo Nation, the
plaintiffs filed a motion for sanctions, alleging that the U.S. Government secretly
destroyed evidence related to its role in the gold mine explosion. The court denied the
motion and cancelled the pending spoliation hearing, finding that even an adverse
inference ruling would not help their cases against the government given the
settlements. The plaintiffs argued that the federal government was using the
settlements as a way to avoid answering questions regarding whether it attempted to
destroy records, and that the information would be needed in order to continue pursuing
claims against the private federal contractor entities. The court ruled that the contractors
were not accused of evidence-tampering, and thus, spoliation sanctions were not
warranted).
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
