Dive Brief:
- With the growth of electronic information, employers and employee communication has changed dramatically, according to Bloomberg BNA.
- As a result, e-discovery rules are given a much more critical role and have higher impact on employment litigation and claims, according to legal professionals speaking to Bloomberg BNA.
- While e-discovery costs can be very expensive, both employer and employee legal advocates are on the same page in saying that e-discovery often is a highly effective strategy in bolstering a legal argument.
Dive Insight:
One legal expert, for example, told Bloomberg BNA that an employer can use e-mails or other electronic documents to demonstrate that an employee was "put on notice, trained on company policies or received the HR policy handbook."
Legal discovery for electronically stored information (ESI) in employment claims typically falls on the employer, Bloomberg points out. Recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (effective Dec. 1, 2015), specifically deal with changes and repercussions for failing to preserve ESI, which is good news for employers.
Among other bits of advice, the article says employers should retain e-mails and other ESI until the statute of limitations (two years) for most employment claims expires, though some "willful violations" have a three-year deadline. For now, Bloomberg says employers are in a wait and see mode regarding whether the latest rule changes will lead to more or less discovery contentiousness.
