Domanus v. Lewicki

Dist. Ct. did not err in entering $413 million default judgment against defendants as sanction for various discovery infractions in RICO action by plaintiffs alleging that defendants-controlling shareholders in corporation caused corporation to pay out millions of dollars to defendants for services never performed. Entry of default judgment was not abuse of discretion, where record supported Dist. Ct. finding that: (1) defendants made at best minimal efforts to produce certain bank records/computer hard drive that had been subject to prior production orders; and (2) defendants failed to make one defendant available for his deposition. Fact that Magistrate Judge had imposed lesser sanction did not require different result. Moreover, Dist. Ct. did not err in using four-year-old offer to purchase total shares of subject corporation when calculating damages, where defendant had withheld certain documents that could have provided more accurate calculation of corporation’s worth.