Things you should never put in an e-mail
Posted by Brad at 6:06am Friday, December 5, 2008
Ron Sylvester, who blogs at What the Judge Ate for Breakfast, looks at “the kinds of emails that get you in trouble.”
My wife says you should never put anything in a company e-mail that you don’t want to be shown to 12 strangers on a big movie screen. She practices employment law, including sexual harassment lawsuits, and she said you wouldn’t believe what people put in e-mails that end up being shown to juries in public courtrooms.
… Searching electronic archives of company e-mails and files is becoming an increasingly useful tool for lawyers involved in lawsuits against you or your boss. It’s called “e-discovery.”
Sylvester references Roger Matus‘ list of phrases that lawyers and investigators search for.
- “I could get into trouble for telling you this, but…”
- “Delete this email immediately.”
- “I really shouldn’t put this in writing.”
- “Don’t tell So-and-So.” Or, “Don’t send this to So-and-So.”
- “She/He/They will never find out.”
- “We’re going to do this differently than normal.”
- “I don’t think I am supposed to know this, but…”
- “I don’t want to discuss this in e-mail. Please give me a call.”
- “Don’t ask. You don’t want to know.”
- “Is this actually legal?”
