Grant of Defendant’s Summary Judgment Motion Led to Denial of Defendant’s Sanctions Motion

[EDRM Editor’s Note: The opinions and positions are those of the author.]

A spoliation motion that alleged failure to preserve text messages was denied because summary judgment was granted in favor of the movant. Flynn v. Kone, Inc., 2026 WL 1707560, at *12 (D. Md. Jun. 12, 2026)(Hurson, J.).

Mr. Flynn sued his employer, Kone, Inc., alleging discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Kone first moved for sanctions and then for summary judgment.

After analyzing each ADA claim, the Court held that Kone was entitled to summary judgment. It then wrote that it had “inherent authority, as well as the discretion as circumscribed by Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to sanction discovery violations.” Id. at *12. The Court quoted and cited Barreto v. SGT, Inc., Civ. No. PX-17-2716, 2019 WL 3253373, at *3 (D. Md. July 19, 2019) (citing Victory Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc., 269 F.R.D. 497, 517 (D. Md. 2010)), aff’d, 826 F. App’x 267 (4th Cir. 2020).

It then stated:

KONE argues that Flynn failed to preserve relevant text messages and requests an adverse jury inference along with attorneys’ fees and costs as sanctions for the alleged spoliation…. However, given that summary judgment has been granted in KONE’s favor and there is no need for any adverse jury inference, the Court will deny the motion as moot.
Id. (emphasis added).

The Court cited authority “denying a motion for discovery sanctions as moot in light of granting summary judgment.” Id.

While the outcome is unquestionable, the dicta re inherent authority may be. The Committee Note to the 2015 Amendments to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(e) states: “New Rule 37(e) replaces the 2006 rule. It authorizes and specifies measures a court may employ if information that should have been preserved is lost, and specifies the findings necessary to justify these measures. It therefore forecloses reliance on inherent authority or state law to determine when certain measures should be used.” [emphasis added].

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Author

Holley Robinson

Holley Robinson is the Senior Marketing Operations Manager for EDRM and ComplexDiscovery OÜ. She supports social media strategy, podcast and webinar production, and content management for EDRM while also overseeing updates to ComplexDiscovery’s industry-recognized eDisclosure Buyers Guide and assisting with their social media and content efforts. A recent graduate of Texas Tech University with a background in marketing, Holley began her journey in eDiscovery as an intern with EDRM and now contributes to amplifying valuable resources for the eDiscovery community.

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