On Tuesday, internet giant Yahoo Inc. asked a Texas federal judge to sanction insurer SCA Promotions Inc. and its attorneys for allegedly breaking confidentiality rules. Yahoo claims this violation occurred when SCA filed its motion for summary judgment and supporting documents in the publicly accessible online service known as PACER.
Yahoo claims
“In a blatant ploy to influence the jury pool, to resurrect a case with no basis and to garner some bizarrely needed but desperate notoriety, SCA has now violated the protective order governing the dissemination of discovery in this case for the third time … [w]ithout fail, SCA’s clear and repeated violations of the protective order garner additional one-sided press for SCA.”
In response, Jeff Tillotson, an attorney for SCA, stated that “Yahoo has made a habit of filing motions for sanctions that they later drop … I would question who’s trying to generate publicity.”
The case revolves around the cancellation of a contract to insure a $1 billion NCAA March Madness contest. SCA is attempting to recover $4.4 million on the $5.5 million contract. Yahoo argues that is owes SCA nothing more than the $1.1 million if already paid for the contract’s cancellation.