|
Every
Word Counts
Business
Communications
By:
Patricia S. Eyres
Evidence
from business records generated over years and even decades
affects an increasing number of civil lawsuits.
In fact, damage awards have soared in recent years, some
due to explosive content of business communications, gaps in
documentation, inflammatory e-mail, or charges of evidence
tampering.
Most recently, General Motors was hit with a record $4.9
billion verdict, based largely on an internal memo a staff
engineer wrote nearly two decades earlier. Similarly, in
lawsuits against large insurers and small service providers, old
marketing memos were pivotal evidence. Inflammatory e-mail
messages haunted Microsoft in its antitrust trial, and offensive
e-mail plagues employers in costly harassment lawsuits. These
are just a few examples of business communications created in
one context and then spun against the company in the courtroom.
Equally troublesome are high profile accusations of
document shredding. Enron and Andersen are the latest (but not
the only) businesses finding themselves on the defensive over
when and how they destroyed evidence. From gigantic civil
penalties to criminal obstruction of justice charges, haphazard
enforcement of document retention and disposal policies is a
legal minefield.
Many managers today are unaware of the legal pitfalls
inherent in generating written communications and business
records. The fact is that during a trial, the courts may analyze
everything from informal memos to performance appraisals to
marketing plans, all of which may be turned against the company.
Unfortunately, those managers who are ...
...Continued
in the pages of Twin Plant News, Subscribe Today! |
