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Judge Sides with Former Student over Missing Emails

Judge ruled Montana State University should have preserved emails involving a conductor accused of coercing a student into having sex

By Associated Press

BOZEMAN — A judge in Montana has ruled a university should have preserved emails involving a conductor accused of coercing a student into having sex.

The former student claims in a lawsuit Montana State University is to blame for hiring convicted sex offender Shuichi Komiyama.

Montana District Court Judge James Reynolds ruled Wednesday the university damaged the former student’s case by failing to preserve all relevant emails concerning Komiyama.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports Reynolds has ordered the school to pay the former student’s unspecified legal costs and fees.

Montana State officials argued they turned over more than 1,700 pages of evidence to the former student’s attorney. They say the school allowed emails to be deleted only as part of a routine process to free up server space.