Aloi v. Union Pacific Railroad Corp.

RICE, Justice.

I. Introduction

Frank Aloi tripped over a loose rubber mat and was injured while working as a conductor for Union Pacific Railroad (UP). Aloi brought a personal injury action against UP. Prior to trial, UP destroyed documents relevant to the litigation. As a sanction for spoliation of evidence, the trial court instructed the jury it could draw an inference that the evidence contained in the destroyed documents would have been unfavorable to UP. The trial court gave the adverse inference instruction three times, one time interrupting a cross-examination to provide the instruction.…