Product Liability Case Involving Alleged Runaway Mine Car Allowed To Proceed in Alabama Federal Court
Following significant injuries sustained while riding a mine car that allegedly malfunctioned, a worker brought suit against the manufacturer of two cooling fans in the mine car. The worker’s employer, however, discarded the cooling fans and could not locate them upon receipt of an evidence preservation letter from the plaintiff’s attorney approximately 35 days following the incident. The cooling fan manufacturer filed a motion to dismiss based upon this spoliation of evidence, but the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama denied the motion, explaining that dismissal should be imposed only where a showing of bad faith was evident. Here, the defendant manufacturer had not asserted that the plaintiff acted in bad faith and the plaintiff had not actually been responsible for any spoliation that did occur (as the worker’s employer was responsible for the disappearance of the cooling fans).
