The Modern Archivist

Social media is now in a relationship with e-discovery

Maybe it wasn’t love at first site, but there can be no question that the two are now firmly in each other’s arms.  But don’t take my word for it.  Check out the updated state of Florida record-keeping regulations here.   It used to be that e-discovery evidence and records were to be found in Word, Excel or email files.  But the state of Florida has expanded their definition of electronic records to include those made by “email, instant messaging, text messaging (such as SMS, Blackberry PIN, etc), multimedia messaging (such as MMS), chat messaging, social networking (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.), or any other current or future electronic messaging technology or device.” 

Courts have also found that social media and e-discovery are made for each other.  For example:

• In Monster Worldwide, Inc. v. HR Guru.biz, HR Guru issued counter-claims that allege Monster Worldwide created and maintained a FaceBook page and Twitter account that infringes trademarks and constitutes an unfair business practice;
• In TEKsystems v. Brelyn Hammernik et al, Teksystems  alleges that three former employees breached their non-compete agreements by using LinkedIn to contact current employees;
• In Bass v Miss Porter’s School , the court found that the content of Plaintiff’s Facebook usage was relevant to both the liability and damages phase of the lawsuit; and   
• In Horizon Group Management v Amanda Bonnen, alleges that defendant tweeted about her “moldy apartment” which defamed apartment management. 

And these are just the tip of the iceberg.  Attorneys that specialize in employment and divorce in particular are keen to exploit social media evidence.  Isn’t young love grand?