10 tips for avoiding legal problems in emails
Is your organization training employees how to use email judiciously? Or is digital carelessness setting you up for a lawsuit? We asked attorneys for their advice.
Perhaps it has happened to you: A fellow employee emails a joke that’s meant to be funny, but you find it offensive.
Or maybe you’ve accidentally hit Reply All when you snarked about your chief executive’s latest rally-the-troops bromide.
Email is a powerful tool in business communications, but it comes with risks. An offhand joke could set you up for a lawsuit. The confidential information you carelessly forward could cost you a major client.
“There are few things as devastating as testifying under oath, and having someone read your own words at you in direct contradiction to what you said,” says Peri Berger, an attorney with the New York City offices of Harris Beach.
To spare you that fate, we’ve rounded up advice to ensure that your communicators, executives and employees are briefed on the legal challenges of email (along with social media). Here are some pointers:
1. Write a policy covering email, your intranet and social media.
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