Diversity Jurisdiction

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7^th Circuit court of Appeals

Case Name: Matthew Schaefer, et al v. Universal Scaffolding & Equipment, LLC

Case No.: 15-2393

Officials: FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges, and PETERSON, District Judge.

Focus: Diversity Jurisdiction

This diversity case requires us to review the district court’s application of Illinois tort law, particularly concerning spoliation of evidence. Matthew Schaefer, a construction worker, alleges that he was seriously injured when a defective piece of scaffolding fell and struck him on the head. So, in addition to bringing a workers’ compensation claim against his employer, Schaefer sued the scaffolding manufacturer, Universal Scaffolding & Equipment, LLC. When he learned that the piece of scaffolding that hit him had been lost, he added claims for negligent spoliation of evidence against his employer, Brand Energy Services, LLC, and against Dynegy Midwest Generation, LLC, the company that had engaged Brand to build scaffolding at a Dynegy power plant. Schaefer also alleged claims for construction negligence and failure to warn against Dynegy. Schaefer’s wife joined his claims for negligent spoliation and brought claims for loss of consortium against each of the defendants. In a series of decisions, the district court granted summary judgment for defendants. At the heart of the case is the missing piece of scaffolding, which had been lost while in Dynegy’s possession, before anyone had tested it for defects. The district court held that without the missing piece, Schaefer could not prove his product liability claims against Universal. The district court also held that Dynegy was not liable for any defects or negligence in the construction of the scaffolding. We affirm these decisions.

But the district court also held that Schaefer and his wife could not prove their spoliation claims either, reasoning that because the Schaefers were unable to prove that the missing piece was in fact defective, they would be unable to prove that the loss of the piece caused them any damage. The district court here relied on an incorrect statement of Illinois spoliation law, which does not require a plaintiff to prove that he would have won his case but for the spoliation. A spoliation claim under Illinois law requires only that the plaintiff show a “reasonable probability” of success on the underlying suit. Because the Schaefers adduced evidence from which a jury could make this finding—the batch of scaffolding used on the Dynegy project had a large number of defective pieces—the grant of summary judgment on the spoliation claims was improper. Accordingly, we reverse the grant of summary judgment on the spoliation claims against Brand and Dynegy.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.