By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Leonard P. Stark in GN Netcom, Inc. v. Plantronics, Inc., Civil Action No. 12-1318-LPS (D.Del. January 3, 2018), the Court denied Plaintiff GN Netcom’s motion for a new trial. Following a six-day jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendant Plantronics, Inc. Thereafter, GN Netcom moved for a new trial contending the Court erred and prejudiced GN Netcom’s substantial rights in two ways: (1) with regard to Plantronics’ spoliation of evidence, by providing the jury a permissive adverse instruction rather than a dispositive sanction, and “present[ing] a sanitized version of facts regarding Plantronics’ spoliation that vastly ignored how egregious its misconduct was and how detrimental the consequences were on GN’s case”; and (2) refusing to admit evidence of the government’s notice of disbarment to Plantronics based on the General Services Administration’s review of the Court’s opinion imposing sanctions on Plantronics for its spoliation of evidence. Id. at *3. Upon evaluation of the motion, the Court concluded that GN Netcom failed to show that either of those errors affected its substantial rights. Id. at *4.
A copy of the Memorandum Opinion is attached.