ebuzz - Don't "shred" that email!

Don't "shred" that email!

On December 1st, the federal government officially changed its rules regarding the admissibility of electronic communications in court cases. And, as Christopher Rugaber reports in this AP story, companies that help businesses track and retrieve employees' electronic communications are doing very good business indeed.

"The new rules, which took effect Friday, require U.S. companies to keep better track of their employees' e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents in the event the companies are sued, legal experts say. They are part of amendments to federal rules governing civil litigation and were approved by the Supreme Court's administrative arm in April after a five-year review."

This requirement, the result of a Supreme Court ruling in April, has some companies settling lawsuits without going to court simply to avoid the necessity of retrieving data that they don't know they have — or, if they do, where it is.

Failing to preserve electronic communications comes at a high price. "In one high-profile case last year, former UBS AG equities trader Laura Zubulake won a $29 million award in a federal gender discrimination suit. The presiding judge penalized UBS for failing to recognize that missing e-mails would end up being relevant to future litigation," notes the article.

The immediate response of many companies has been to "tape over" the electronic tapes of stored data — in effect, shredding e-communications. But as we pointed out in an earlier ebuzz this year ("We're Our Own Worst Enemies, August 2006), such actions are hardly useful. Someone, somewhere, has kept a copy of that email, and will be willing to bring it forward at the first opportunity, especially if the person has been fired or is similarly disaffected.

Best advice? Find a way to store (and retrieve when necessary) any e-communications that could eventually go to court.

And that's our take on the news today!

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