744 Fed.Appx. 74 (3rd Cir. 2018), 17-2604, Lexpath Technologies Holdings, Inc. v. Welch
| Docket Nº: | 17-2604 |
| Citation: | 744 Fed.Appx. 74 |
| Opinion Judge: | RENDELL, Circuit Judge: |
| Party Name: | LEXPATH TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS, INC., Appellant v. Brian WELCH; Welch Technology Services, LLC |
| Attorney: | Victoria M. Brown, Esq., Englewood, NJ, for Plaintiff-Appellant Alexander J. Kemeny, Esq., Kemeny LLC, East Brunswick, NJ, for Defendants-Appellees |
| Judge Panel: | Before: GREENAWAY, JR., RENDELL, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges |
| Case Date: | July 30, 2018 |
| Court: | United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit |
Page 74
NOT PRECEDENTIAL
Submitted under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) on April 17, 2018
Editorial Note:
This opinion is not regarded as Precedents which bind the court under Third Circuit Internal Operating Procedure Rule 5.7. (See Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure Rule 32.1)
Page 75
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Page 76
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (District Court No.: 3-13-cv-05379), District Judge: Honorable Peter G. Sheridan
Victoria M. Brown, Esq., Englewood, NJ, for Plaintiff-Appellant
Alexander J. Kemeny, Esq., Kemeny LLC, East Brunswick, NJ, for Defendants-Appellees
Before: GREENAWAY, JR., RENDELL, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges
OPINION[*]
RENDELL, Circuit Judge:
Defendant-Appellee, Brian Welch, left his employment as a network engineer with Lexpath Holdings, Inc. ("Lexpath") to form his own company, Welch Technology Services, LLC ("WTS"). Lexpath sued Welch and WTS contending that, among other things, Welch misappropriated trade secrets and confidential information. The jury found for Welch and WTS on all counts. On appeal, Lexpath raises a plethora of issues, challenging several of the District Courts evidentiary rulings and denial of summary judgment in its favor, as well as the jurys verdict. For the following reasons, we will affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Facts
Welch worked for Lexpath as a network engineer. He did not sign a non-compete or non-disclosure agreement with Lexpath. During his employment there, Welch serviced three primary clients: Liberty Transportation Group ("Liberty"), EIMC, LLC ("EIMC"), and Mental Health Association of New Jersey ("MHANJ").
Welch left Lexpath on August 2, 2013. However, before resigning, he took several steps to establish his new business, WTS. Welch officially formed WTS on June 21, 2013. On July 24, 2013, Welch spoke to his business contacts at Liberty, informing them of his intentions to leave Lexpath and form WTS. Liberty requested a rate sheet from Welch, which he provided on July 31, 2013. Moreover, on August 1, 2013, Welch spoke with his contact at EIMC about leaving Lexpath and forming WTS. However, all of Welchs other contact with EIMC was done after he left Lexpath. Finally, in his last week of employment with Lexpath, Welch informed an administrative assistant at MHANJ, Katie Koskie, of his intention to leave Lexpath. On August 2, 2013, Welch told one of Lexpaths principals, Martin Tuohy, that he was resigning and starting WTS. Welch told Tuohy that he solicited business from Liberty and EIMC, and he thought they would likely leave Lexpath for WTS. Within a few days of Welchs resignation, Liberty and EIMC moved their business to WTS.
After Welchs resignation on August 2, 2013, he kept his work laptop, which he had also used for personal use. Welch used the laptop after his resignation, but the parties dispute whether he had permission
Page 77
to do so. On August 6, 2013, Lexpaths counsel sent Welch a letter outlining the claims that Lexpath was considering bringing against Welch and WTS. Shortly thereafter, on August 13, 2013, Lexpaths counsel contacted Welch to inform him that Lexpath intended to initiate litigation, and to request the return of the laptop. Welch returned the laptop, through counsel, about seven months later.
For litigation support, Lexpath retained the services of Digital4NX to investigate whether there was misappropriation of trade secrets and other confidential information. On August 13, 2013, the same day that Lexpath told Welch it would sue, Welch ran a program called CCleaner on the laptop to permanently delete files. Upon examining the laptop, Digital4NX discovered that approximately 54,000 files had been deleted. However, the forensic expert testified that he could not determine what types of data had been deleted from the laptop.
B. Procedural History
On September 9, 2013, Lexpath filed suit against Welch and WTS. In its complaint, Lexpath stated the following nine claims: (1) violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA) (18 U.S.C. § 1030); (2) breach of duty of loyalty; (3) misappropriation of trade secrets; (4) unfair competition; (5) breach of the duty of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (6) tortious interference with prospective economic advantage; (7) disparagement; (8) violation of New Jersey Trade Secrets Act (N.J. Stat. Ann. § § 56:15-1 to -9 (West 2012)); and (9) violation of the New Jersey Computer Related Offenses Act ("CROA") (N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:38A-1 (West 2010) ). Welch and WTS then counterclaimed seeking an award of damages for attorneys fees and costs incurred in defending against the trade secrets claim, arguing it was made in bad faith.
Following the completion of discovery, Lexpath moved for summary judgment and spoliation sanctions in connection with Welchs handling of the laptop. In support of its motion, Lexpath submitted affidavits from Peter Reganato and Alan Feldman repeating statements made by Libertys president, Donald Lusardi, that Welch had made negative remarks to him about Lexpath.1 The District Court granted Welchs motion to exclude Reganato and Feldmans testimony as inadmissible double hearsay. The Court also entered an order ("Spoliation Order") granting Lexpaths motion for spoliation, holding that it would "instruct the jury that they may presume that the lost information was unfavorable to Defendants." A. 1724.11 (emphasis added).
Lexpath renewed its motion for summary judgment on the basis of "new facts adduced at the spoliation hearing." A. 2786. The District Court denied the motion, noting the overwhelming number of material facts at issue. Moreover, it noted that any factual determinations made in the Spoliation Order were solely for the purpose of spoliation sanctions and were not binding on the jury, nor did they take any issues away from the jury.
Before trial, Lexpath moved for the District Court to direct the jury to accept the findings of the Spoliation Order as conclusive. For their part, Welch and WTS moved for the Court to exclude the testimony of Koskie, the MHANJ employee. The Court denied Lexpaths motion, stating that it chose the least severe sanction by crafting an instruction would tell the jury a "paragraph or two about spoliation" and instruct that the jury may consider the lost information unfavorable to Welch. A. 3353. However, the Court granted
Page 78
Welchs motion, explaining that Koskies testimony was irrelevant and would confuse the jury because Lexpath had not alleged any damages with regard to MHANJ.
At trial, during Lexpaths opening argument, counsel told the jury that "Mr. Welch destroyed evidence in the form of 53,000 computer files that were on a Lexpath laptop.... His Honor has already ruled on that and will instruct you that you may presume that the evidence he deleted would have been unfavorable to him." A. 3389. After opening arguments, the Court told the parties that it was "worried" that "the jury could have been left with the impression that the Court had made a decision on the facts" and that Lexpaths statement "gave the inference to the jury that ... they should take this fact as being true." A. 3411-12.
The Court then issued a corrective instruction that: While the Court issued an order on spoliation, I did not make any final decisions about the facts, I just said that the information could be admitted into evidence. So, its your job during the course of this trial to determine the weight and credibility of that testimony that youll hear, and those types of issues are within your province to decide. So whatever you heard, I made a decision on admission of evidence....
-
3420.
Later on at trial, Lexpath called its forensic expert to testify about the laptop, the deleted files, and the CCleaner program. Before closing arguments, the Court told counsel that it "had doubts as to whether or not a presumption was warranted" after hearing the evidence, and that it would charge spoliation but not a presumption in Lexpaths favor. A. 4078-79. After some discussion, Lexpaths counsel requested that the Court "take the spoliation charge out of the instructions," A. 4081, which the Court did.
The jury found in favor of Welch and WTS on all counts, and determined that Lexpath had asserted its misappropriation of trade secrets claim in bad faith. At no time did Lexpath move for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50. This appeal followed.
II. DISCUSSION
On appeal, Lexpath assigns numerous errors to the District Court before and at trial. The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 & 1367, and our jurisdiction flows from 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review each of Lexpaths contentions in turn.
A. Spoliation Instruction
We review the District Courts denial of an adverse inference instruction for abuse of discretion. McMunn v. Babcock & Wilcox Power Gen. Grp., Inc., 869 F.3d 246, 268 (3d Cir. 2017). "[W]here there is evidence that one party has destroyed or altered evidence, the opposing party can obtain a spoliation inference," that the destroyed evidence would have been unfavorable to the position of the offending party. " Id. (quoting Schmid v. Milwaukee Elec. Tool Corp., 13 F.3d 76, 78 (3d Cir. 1994)).
Lexpath contends that the District Court abused its discretion by telling counsel it would not give a spoliation instruction, reversing its previous ruling that it would instruct the jury that "they may presume that the lost information [on Welchs laptop]...
To continue reading
FREE SIGN UP