On November 24, 2015, plaintiff Josephine James Edwards brought a class action complaint against Hearst Communications, Inc., alleging unlawful disclosure of magazine subscribers’ personal data in violation of a Michigan privacy law. Class-wide discovery is ongoing. Following a conference to discuss several discovery disputes, the Court ordered briefing on the issue of when Hearst’s duty to preserve evidence relevant to Edwards’ action arose, and on Edwards’ request for discovery related to Hearst’s document retention policies and practices. For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that Hearst’s duty to preserve arose on May 21, 2015, upon the filing of the complaint in a case that was subsequently consolidated with this action. Separately, the Court finds that Hearst has responded insufficiently to Edwards’ request regarding document retention, and directs that it respond anew and in conformity with this Opinion*2
I. BACKGROUNDThe Court assumes familiarity with the underlying facts in this action and will not recount them in any detail here.1 To determine when Hearst’s duty to preserve evidence arose, the Court must analyze whether (as Edwards contends) Hearst should have known that it could face future litigation after the dismissal of a prior action under Michigan’s Video Rental Privacy Act (“VRPA”), or, alternatively, if (as Hearst contends) its duty to preserve ceased at the time of the dismissal of the prior case and arose again only upon the filing of a subsequent complaint alleging VRPA claims. The Court also considers whether, regardless of any duty Hearst may have had, Edwards is entitled to certain documents she seeks about document retention policies and practices at Hearst before, during, and after the pendency of the prior suit.A. Prior VRPA LitigationMichigan enacted the VRPA in 1988 to protect consumers’ privacy with respect to the purchase, rental, or borrowing of certain goods. Boelter, 2017 WL 3994934, at *1. As relevant here, the statute prohibits entities that sell written materials such as magazines from disclosing information about the purchase of those materials where that information identifies the customer. VRPA, H.B. 5331,
