Chapman, a popular speaker and consultant and president of Mindy Chapman & Assocates LLC, offered her tips at the recent SHRM Annual Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas.
One of Chapman's favorite e-mail debacles concerns emails that caused Merck to lose $6.9 billion of the company's valuation. Merck shares fell as much as 10.5 percent after the Wall Street Journal published e-mails from company officials that suggested Merck knew about the heart-attack risks of the arthritis drug years before the recall.
An e-mail dated March 9, 2000 suggested Merck recognized Vioxx increased heart risk. The e-mail—written by research chief Edward Scolnick—said cardiovascular events "are clearly there." Another e-mail, written years ago by Merck research executive Alice Reicin, suggested people at high risk be excluded from a trial so the rate of cardiovascular problems of Vioxx patients and others "would not be evident."
E-mails are a treasure trove of evidence, Chapman says. For example:
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Technology has brought with it easily discoverable and quickly provable lawsuits, Chapman says. You're going to find:
Remember, says Chapman, that e-mail is never deleted, and it resides in an easily searchable database. The E in E-mail stands for Eternal Evidence, Chapman says.
Who owns e-mail? It's simple, asks Chapman. Many think the employee/sender owns the email (and the liability), but:
And that means that bottom line, your company is ... legally liable for all email, Chapman says.
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Employees' E-Mail Myths
Chapman details the four big myths that employees hold about e-mail:
Employees' E-Mail Myth #1
Employee: "It's my e-mail, with my name on it, so you can't search it." Employer: "Our e-mail policy puts you on notice of our rights to search and defeats your reasonable expectation of privacy."
Employees' E-Mail Myth #2
Employee: "It's my own personal password and personal folders, not the company's." Employer: "But, they were transmitted over OUR network!"
Employees' E-Mail Myth #3
Employee: "I own my own computer and bring it to work." Employer: "The computer was being used for work-related purposes and therefore you have ‘no reasonable expectation of privacy.'"
Employees' E-Mail Myth #4
Employee: "You can never search my private e-mail account. Period. It's mine!" Employer: "Oh, yes, we might!"
Sometimes (Rarely) E-Mail Helps!
A teacher sued her employer for wrongful denial of tenure, Chapman relates. The employer was able to produce sexual messages between her and a student. So sometimes, texts and e-mail can be used to help you, Chapman says.
In tomorrow's Advisor, Chapman's 10 Sins of E-Mail, plus an introduction to a handy collection of pre-written HR policies on CD.
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