In today's litigious environment, where harassment and wrongful termination suits are increasingly common, the likelihood
of your company being sued and your HR department being involved are greater than ever before. It's important to know what
you can do to protect your company's interests in the event of a lawsuit, or to help avert a potential case.
Email, Instant Messaging, and the Internet have become focal points in many corporate litigation cases involving
harassment and wrongful termination.
According to a survey by the International Data Corp, 27% of Fortune 500 organizations have defended themselves
against claims of sexual harassment stemming from inappropriate email.
Most studies show that 70% of companies have had sexually explicit sites accessed using their company network.
In 2005 a former UBS AG employee Laura Zubulake was awarded $29 million in damages in a discrimination and wrongful
termination suit.
The increased use of computer technology has compounded the problems companies face when involved in a potential
litigation situation. Because of this many companies have had to make changes to or incorporate electronic
information systems use policies into their overall company employee policies.
Companies are revising or implementing electronic information retention policies to ensure electronic information
is retained should they be required to produce it in the course of litigation proceedings.
Many companies have started to take proactive step to gather and retain electronic information, even before the
possibility of litigation arises.
SGC Computer Forensics, LLC
offers a wide range of solutions and can work with corporate HR departments and company legal teams to implement
proactive strategies to help reduce or possibly eliminate issues that may come up in the event a lawsuit is filed
against the company.
- Forensic image copies of all employee workstation immediately upon termination to secure possible relevant electronic information.
- Help identify areas of the computer system that may contain relevant electronic information that the company may be required to produce.
- Assist in securing electronic information to help eliminate the possibility of spoliation sanctions.
- Work with company legal teams to revise and update company electronic information policies and procedures.
- Help develop proactive electronic information policies that could reduce the cost of meeting discovery requests in the event a company is involved in litigation.
- Provide HR and management training on the benefits of sound electronic information policies and procedures.