Backup Tapes Lost The Case
Backup Central, Thursday, March 7th, 2024
What do I always tell you in my books, blogs, and podcast? Don't use your backup system as an archive system. And heaven help you the day you try to satisfy a big e-discovery case using only backup tapes.
I often say that doing so can result in what the legal world calls an adverse inference instruction, which can cost you the case. This is the story of the most infamous case in US history where that happened. Not only did they lose the case; it resulted in a $1.5B award!
In 2004, Coleman (Parent) Holdings, Inc. (CPH) sued Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. (MS) for fraud having to do with CPH's sale of its stock in Coleman, Inc. to Sunbeam Corporation.
According to the court, Morgan Stanley failed to preserve email, despite being notified of the lawsuit. They continued to delete emails as per their usual policy. This is often referred to as a failure to preserve.