Dismissal of Plaintiff?s Court Case for Spoilation of Evidence Precludes Department of Labor Investigation into Whether Termination Violated Sarbanes Oxley

The plaintiff in this Title VII/ADA/False Claims Act?? case?? deliberately?? destroyed?? data?? on?? his company issued laptop following his termination and the Company?s pre-emptive initiation of a declaratory judgment lawsuit that it could lawfully terminate his employment.? ?He also filed? ?an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor claiming he was terminated in violation of Sarbanes Oxley (?SOX?). ?Judge Pechman held an evidentiary hearing before granting the employer?s motion to dismiss the plaintiff?s court case.?? The court held that there was no way of knowing how much potentially relevant evidence had been lost. ?The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the court had the inherent authority to dismiss the employee?s case for bad conduct. The district court refused to enjoin the DOL proceeding. ?The DOL later found reasonable cause that the plaintiff?s termination violated SOX.? ?The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court?s denial of the injunction against the DOL proceeding on the basis that the DOL was in privity with a plaintiff whose separate claims? ?arising? ?from?? similar? ?facts? ?had? ?been dismissed in court. The claim preclusion decision seems an unjustified windfall for the employer. Leon v. IDX Sys. Corp., (9/20/06;Tashima; Thompson; Callahan).