There are benefits of being employed by a major company. Along with those benefits, though, is the fact that we are connected to those we work with in a unique way. If someone else in the company we work for violates the law, the investigation into his or her behavior may easily affect us, since widespread managed document review is a common corporate practice today. Knowing what to expect can prepare us for this process.
Managed document review is usually used by corporations during preparation for a legal proceeding or when an internal investigation is warranted to get to the source of reported wrongdoing before turning information over to authorities. It involves the electronic and manual digestion of mountains of information, much of it completely unrelated to the issue being investigated, as investigators identify the scope and source of the problem.
Internal company reviews are not usually conducted by law enforcement officers, so the investigators engaged to undertake them are not constrained by due process of law. Operating under a blanket mandate from the corporation, they have license to search as broadly and as invasively as they see fit. Employee privacy is far less of a concern than getting to the root of the issue.
This is important for every employee to keep in mind. it should act as a disincentive for anybody contemplating some form of fraud. If a red flag goes up and an investigation starts, there is very little anybody can do anymore to erase their tracks. Even a very careful thief almost always leaves behind some footprint, and the dynamic of these investigations is such that a footprint is all it takes to be found out.
It should also act as a disincentive for those who find out about wrongdoing and choose to stay quiet rather than taking the risks associated with blowing the whistle. Companies have ethical standards for a reason; even if they don't live up to them, individual employees ought to. After wrongdoing has been discovered and an investigation begins, everyone who knew of the wrongdoing becomes implicated and may face consequences.
Conducting an investigation requires a lot of resources, and some companies try to get as much value from them as possible by instructing investigators to pass evidence of any employee infraction on to supervisors for discipline. So while it might be exciting to engage in a hot exchange with a lover or coworker, or to open some less-than-savory pages in your Web browser, if you do it just might come back to haunt you when the company mounts an investigation into whether an IT guy stole client information.
Most people make good employees and won't ever run the risk of encountering discipline as a result of an investigation. It's still good to bear in mind the possibility that such an investigation could take place, though, and to make sure that your files and documentation are organized and complete. Compliance paperwork, if it's required by your job, should be in order at all times, just in case an outside group needs to scour your files for information.
Knowing the protocol can help to untie your fate from others in the company who may end up in trouble because of a managed document review. That limits one disadvantage of working in a large corporation while still allowing you to benefit from the added security and consistency that size affords an employee.
I'm an e-discovery expert with a passion for writing about ediscovery software. For more information, visit FTI.
