As cited in a recent news article by written by Brian Bain on FWC.com, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy has decided to allow a case against the current administration that is focused on the alleged deletion of potentially millions of emails and a lack of poor records management practices that could be in violation of the Federal Records Act, to proceed.
While this particular case has higher visibility than most due to the parties involved, the problem of poor records keeping and management of email is one that every government agency and private organization should take seriously. Email is a communications vehicle so widely used today that it is overtaking all other forms of communication in business as the primary method. While email itself may not be considered a record, the content within the email format along with any attachments, certainly can and should be addressed and maintained within the construct of a records management framework and follow established records retention and disposition guidelines.
I consider this case and recent decision on the part of Judge Kennedy to be further evidence that no organization is exempt from the responsibility of establishing a sound records management policy that addresses all information formats and that the organization will be held accountable to provide proof that adherence to these policies is maintained or held liable for its mismanagement.
One way you can get ahead of this issue is to strengthen your current policies and practices now, and if you do not have an established practice in place today, take the steps to implement and establish an environment that addresses these issues. If you are unsure of where to begin, you might consider turning to an organization like AIIM at www.aiim.org/training, to gain insight as to how you might take those first few critical steps.
Bob Larrivee - AIIM
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