Under Michigan Court Rule 2.313, a judge can punish a party for destroying or failing to preserve evidence. The word comes from the Latin spoliare, meaning to strip or plunder. In plain terms, spoliation means key proof was lost, erased, thrown away, overwritten, or altered after someone should have known a claim or lawsuit was likely.

Today, that matters in Michigan injury cases because a lot of the best proof disappears fast. A fall on a construction site may be captured on a jobsite camera that records over itself in days. A crash on black ice may involve truck data, dashcam footage, maintenance logs, or phone records. A workplace injury at an auto plant or chemical facility may turn on inspection reports, harnesses, machine guards, or incident photos. If that evidence is gone, the other side may argue there is no way to prove what happened.

Michigan does not treat spoliation as a free-standing injury claim in most cases, but courts can still respond hard. A judge may allow sanctions under MCR 2.313, limit defenses, exclude testimony, or give an adverse inference instruction letting jurors conclude the missing evidence would have hurt the party who lost or destroyed it. That is why lawyers often send a preservation letter early. Waiting can cost proof that cannot be recreated.