Hotel 57 LLC v. Harvard Maintenance, Inc.
In this case, the plaintiff hotel sought over $300,000 for replacing 16 scratched windows, attributing the damage to the defendant's window cleaners. The defendant denied responsibility, suggesting the scratches were preexisting. Crucially, the plaintiff destroyed and replaced the windows without notifying the defendant, sixteen months prior to filing the lawsuit. The Supreme Court initially denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment based on spoliation of evidence. However, the appellate court reversed this decision, emphasizing the plaintiff's intentional destruction of evidence critical to the lawsuit, granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, and dismissed the complaint.