Georgia Court Sanctions Transportation Company for Destroying Bus Video in Wrongful Death Case

Butler Kahn recently obtained an order imposing sanctions on a transportation company for failing to preserve critical evidence in a wrongful death car accident case.

Accident Facts

This tragic case involved a non-emergency medical transport bus. Our client was being transported to a routine dialysis appointment. He was seated inside the bus when the driver made a turn. During that turn, our client fell from his seat. The fall dislodged his hemodialysis catheter, causing internal and external bleeding that ultimately led to his death.

The bus had two surveillance cameras – one facing inward and one facing the roadway – and both were operating during the trip. Despite this, the transportation company saved only a short 15-minute video clip recorded after the bus reached the dialysis center. The most important footage – i.e., the footage showing the boarding process, whether the driver properly restrained our client, how the driver was operating the vehicle, and how the fall occurred – was never preserved.

Early in the case, Butler Kahn sent a preservation letter explicitly requesting all video footage from the bus. Even with that clear request, the company failed to preserve the footage that mattered most.

Motion for Sanctions

Once we learned that the transportation company failed to save key video evidence, we filed a motion for sanctions based on spoliation of evidence. The motion explained that the lost video would have shown critical facts: whether the driver secured our client’s seatbelt, whether the driver was distracted while driving, and exactly how the fall occurred inside the bus.

The transportation company argued that sanctions were unnecessary because the missing video was “not essential” and that other evidence – such as the driver’s testimony and phone records – was sufficient. The company also claimed that the video system never recorded the incident because no “triggering event” occurred, and that the continuous recording simply overwrote itself before anyone requested it. They insisted they acted in good faith and preserved what they believed was important.

Court’s Ruling

The Court rejected the company’s arguments and ruled that the company had a clear legal duty to preserve the video footage. The judge found that the cameras were operating, the video existed, and the company knew very early that litigation was likely. Despite that, the company failed to save the critical portions of the video – especially the footage showing how our client fell and whether he was properly secured. The Court also recognized that the missing footage was extremely important and that its loss severely harmed the plaintiff’s ability to prove what happened inside the bus.

Because the company offered no reasonable explanation for why it saved only irrelevant video clips, the Court found that spoliation occurred and that sanctions were required. The Court imposed an adverse inference instruction, meaning the jury will be told that the transportation company had a duty to preserve the video, failed to do so, and that the jury may presume the missing footage would have supported the plaintiff’s case and harmed the defense.

A copy of the Court’s Order is available online here.

Jeb Butler

Jeb Butler’s career as a Georgia trial lawyer has led to a $150 million verdict in a product liability case against Chrysler for a dangerous vehicle design that caused the death of a child, a $45 million settlement for a young man who permanently lost the ability to walk and talk, and numerous other verdicts and settlements, many of which are confidential at the defendant’s insistence. Jeb has worked on several cases that led to systemic changes and improvements in public safety. He has been repeatedly recognized as a Georgia SuperLawyer and ranks among Georgia’s legal elite. Jeb graduated in the top 10% of his class at UGA Law, argued on the National Moot Court team, and published in the Law Review. He is the founding partner of Butler Kahn law firm. Connect with me on LinkedIn