09-2737 & 09-2620 Wickens v. Shell Oil Co.

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Civil Procedure
Discovery sanctions

The district court did not abuse its discretion in not dismissing a case as a sanction for failure to disclose insurance arrangements.

“The choice of a proper sanction for violations of the discovery rules, however, lies in the discretion of the district court. Here, the court reasonably drew a line between an apparent discovery violation and fraud. In its Rule 60(b) motion, Shell has not come close to showing by clear and convincing evidence that the district court erred and that Shere’s actions were fraudulent in nature. Furthermore, Shell suffered no prejudice as a result of Shere’s misrepresentations. Though the district court criticized Employers for doing little to control the costs of litigation, Shell’s knowledge of Employers’s role would not have changed anything. Shell’s assertion that it would have reached a different settlement if it knew about Employers’s “deep pockets” may even cut against it. In that situation, Shell might have offered a larger settlement, thinking that it could not simply wait until the Wickenses’ funds ran out.”

Affirmed in part, and Reversed in part.

09-2737 & 09-2620 Wickens v. Shell Oil Co.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Barker, J., Wood, J.

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