As technology rapidly advances to new forms of electronic communication, there are bound to be those that take the advancements for granted and misuse the technology. For this reason, the United States judicial system is hard at work trying to keep up with the changing landscape of technology crimes. Crimes can range from simple spyware viruses and identity theft schemes, to corporate negligence and sexual harassment charges. Businesses are at risk more than ever of being caught in legal disputes over inappropriate or even criminal technology usage on or off the job. With an array of communication mediums to monitor, including social media websites, instant messaging, e-mail, etc.; it is now of the upmost importance to pay special attention to protecting your business from possible judiciary action.
To keep our members informed, August’s MPI Ohio Chapter meeting in Independence, Ohio featured technology law expert Nancy Flynn from The ePolicy Institute with her presentation “E-Mail Risks & Rules, Records & Regulations”. Ms. Flynn is often subpoenaed as an expert witness in various high level cases involving technological crimes including corporate email fraud and sexual harassment incidents. Ms. Flynn gave real life examples of public events that sparked major reaction from not only the media but the national government as well. One example she discussed was the release of e-mails between Goldman Sacs executives who were laughing it up over how much money they were making off the housing market crash. Ms. Flynn noted that although the financial risks of corporate negligence are hazardous, the public relations backlash can sometimes be enough to completely wipe out consumers perception of a company.
The number one corporate technology risk is workplace lawsuits from disgruntled employees. Incidences including sexual harassment and hostile work environment charges are rampant in today’s court system. These charges often stem from inappropriate email forwards from co-workers; in turn employees take offense to the message and decide to take legal actions on the company. For companies who do not have an internet and/or workplace communication policy in place, there is little they can do as far as legal defense actions. Ms. Flynn discussed a great deal that the first thing a small business must to is to protect themselves with a formal technology user policy that each employee must review and sign.
Another important aspect of protecting your business is to plan ahead for when another party files suit. In the case of a lawsuit, the opposing legal team will request all communication records that retain to their client. If the company is unable to complete this request, they would be fined for the lack of cooperation. Ms. Flynn discussed that in the past, Morgan Stanley was charged $1.6 Billion for their inability to compile the appropriate e-mail records for the Coleman Holdings v. Morgan Stanley case. In order to protect themselves from the unknown, many corporations have begun to archive all inbound and outbound emails, and are saving them indefinitely. The top corporate email risk stems from the firing of employees (varies by state law). When employees are let go because of unsanctioned or inappropriate internet use, many times a lawsuit soon follows. If a company does not have a technology user policy and/or did not save email records, the company can run into an array of legal troubles.
Recently, many companies have been running into a plethora of policy issues due to the ever growing social media market. With Facebook user numbers in the hundreds of millions worldwide, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to monitor employee usage for both personal and professional reasons. Employees are now never really “off the clock”, as what they say and do outside of the office can be blasted on the internet for everyone to see, which can greatly affect the perception of a company and its staff. Many companies have done away with social media access completely due to the risk of a decrease in productivity, and have also inserted clauses into their user policy that prohibits employees from defaming the company on social media mediums. Ms. Flynn discussed a story in which a nurse at a California hospital complained about a patient on her Facebook page in such detail that she even listed the patients name and specific ailment. Actions like these can have severe consequences for a company, and business owners need to prepare for the worst.
