Social media accounts, typically Facebook, are currently a hot-button issue for plaintiff ESI production in civil litigation. Most courts (but not all!) require a threshold showing that the public account has relevant information that would lead to discoverable evidence before requiring a plaintiff to produce private portions of the account.
In an order dated July 19, 2013 in the case of Jewell v. Aaron’s, Inc., Civil No. 1:12-CV-0563-AT (N.D.Ga. 2013), 87 opt-in plaintiffs are suing their employer for, among other claims, not allowing certain lunch breaks as required by law. The defendants sought, among their discovery requests:
“All documents, statements or any activity available that you posted on any internet Web site or Web page, including, but not limited to, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, or a blog from 2009 to the present during your work hours at Aaron’s store.”
The defendant justified this request by contending that some of these posts would show that the employees were, in fact, taking a lunch break during the day. Plaintiff trial attorneys objected to the request as overboard and unduly burdensome. The court investigated the burden of downloading the requested Facebook status updated, and noted that Facebook has a feature that allows users to download the electronic data, including timeline information, wall postings, activity log, messages and photographs in a single document.
However, the court ultimately held that the defendant...
[Click here to see the rest of this article]In an order dated July 19, 2013 in the case of Jewell v. Aaron’s, Inc., Civil No. 1:12-CV-0563-AT (N.D.Ga. 2013), 87 opt-in plaintiffs are suing their employer for, among other claims, not allowing certain lunch breaks as required by law. The defendants sought, among their discovery requests:
“All documents, statements or any activity available that you posted on any internet Web site or Web page, including, but not limited to, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, or a blog from 2009 to the present during your work hours at Aaron’s store.”
The defendant justified this request by contending that some of these posts would show that the employees were, in fact, taking a lunch break during the day. Plaintiff trial attorneys objected to the request as overboard and unduly burdensome. The court investigated the burden of downloading the requested Facebook status updated, and noted that Facebook has a feature that allows users to download the electronic data, including timeline information, wall postings, activity log, messages and photographs in a single document.
However, the court ultimately held that the defendant...
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