White Paper

Careless E-mails Create Problems in Employment: Loose Lips Sink Ships

 
“Late last week, a political firestorm brewed over the hacking of various email accounts belonging to politicians and national security officials. It was reported that the hack revealed that Colin Powell, the almost universally well-liked and well-regarded retired general, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State, had some less than kind things to say about the current crop of presidential candidates. Powell’s emails, for example, reportedly used provocative words like “national disgrace” in one instance and “greedy” and “unbridled ambition” in another instance to describe the candidates.

All of this is interesting you say, but what does this have to do with employment? Answer: Everything.

People tend to be chatty on email; even sophisticated statesmen like Colin Powell who outwardly appear more reserved. By contrast, letters are formal affairs that are printed on paper, mailed, and exist in the real world. You can touch a letter with your hands, make copies of it, and put it in a drawer for safekeeping. Emails, on the other hand, are inherently informal. “

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Hannesson Murphy is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Indianapolis office and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Law Department. Mr. Murphy has extensive experience counseling and advising employers in all aspects of managing the employment relationship with their workforce.

Faculty

Hannesson I. Murphy

Hannesson I. Murphy

Barnes & Thornburg LLP