Sinclair Sanctioned in TV-Ad Lawsuit Over Missing Text Messages

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. will face sanctions for failing to preserve electronically stored information, including text messages, in a long-running antitrust lawsuit that accuses it and other TV station operators of conspiring to fix prices for broadcast television ads.

Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered Sinclair on Tuesday to compensate plaintiffs for the costs of their investigation over the missing texts, while stopping short of holding that Sinclair acted in bad faith.

“Sinclair had a duty to preserve relevant ESI (in this case, text messages from Sinclair custodians’ work-issued cell ...