Bridge Tower Dental, P.A. v. Meridian Computer Center, Inc.
Supreme Court of Idaho
185 P.3d 179 (Idaho 2008)
Bridge Tower Dental (plaintiff) sent its server and hard drives to Meridian Computer Center (defendant) for warranty repair, creating an undisputed bailment; while working on the equipment, Meridian accidentally erased all of Bridge Tower's data, including patient records, leaving Bridge Tower with no way to recover it. At trial, the parties disputed whether Bridge Tower's consultant had told Meridian to back up the data or whether industry practice placed that burden on the customer; the jury nonetheless found for Meridian, the trial court denied Bridge Tower's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and the case reached the Idaho Supreme Court.
Whether a bailee entrusted with a client's computer equipment is negligent for mistakenly destroying the client's data, regardless of whether the bailee had an independent duty to back up that data before working on the equipment.