In a rare and decisive ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a high-profile whistleblower retaliation lawsuit brought by former Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) employee Christopher Pable as a discovery sanction. The appellate court upheld the district court’s judgment in Pable v. Chicago Transit Authority et al, which included dismissal of the case with prejudice and the imposition of monetary sanctions against Pable and his attorney, Timothy Duffy, for discovery misconduct,  spoliation of evidence, and for making misrepresentations during discovery.

The case stemmed from Pable’s claim under the National Transit Systems Security Act that he was wrongfully terminated after reporting a cybersecurity vulnerability in the CTA’s BusTime system, developed by Defendant Clever Devices. However, the courts found that Pable and his attorney engaged in serious discovery violations, including Pable’s intentional destruction of relevant evidence, including Signal text messages, and attorney Duffy’s repeated misrepresentations that he ordered and produced a complete forensic image of Pable’s cell phone, when he did not. The Seventh Circuit concluded the CTA could not fairly defend itself given the destroyed evidence and dismissed the case with prejudice.

The Seventh Circuit’s opinion, authored by Judge Jackson-Akiwumi, emphasized the district court’s careful and well-supported findings, noting that Pable had intentionally deleted critical electronically stored information (ESI) and that his evolving explanations lacked credibility. The court also upheld over $149,000 in sanctions, including:

• $75,175.42 jointly against Pable and Duffy under Rule 37(e) for failure to preserve ESI;
• $21,367 against Duffy under Rule 37(a)(5) for unjustified opposition to a motion to compel;
• $53,388 against Duffy under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 for unreasonably multiplying the proceedings.

This ruling marks a significant win for the CTA and Clever Devices, reinforcing the importance of integrity in litigation and the consequences of discovery abuse. It is the first instance in which the Seventh Circuit has addressed the sanction of dismissal for the failure to preserve ESI under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2).

The Taft Chicago trial team was led by Elizabeth E. Babbitt, who argued the appeal, was a principal author of the district and appellate briefs, and took the lead in discovery. She was assisted by John F. Kennedy, Nicollette Khuans and Paul Coogan.