When suing an employer for unpaid overtime, is it a federal law that you must keep all personal and business-related emails?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
When suing an employer for unpaid overtime, is it a federal law that you must keep all personal and business-related emails?
I am formerly a supervisor that was not paid salary and worked many hours of overtime without being paid. I have sought legal counsel to file a suit against this company. In the process, it was suggested to me that federal law mandates my retaining all “personal” and business-related emails, and that they can look at my emails. Since I am not the one at fault here and the burden of proof has already been sent as far as records to the overtime scheduled and worked, are they allowed to go into my personal emails when they are the ones being sued?
Asked on July 3, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Yes, they may be able to see you personal emails. In litigation, either party, plaintiff or defendant, can seek any potentially relevant information or documents from the other party--the defendant is permittted to seek evidence to defend him/her/itself as surely as the plaintiff can seek information to bolster his/her case. If potentially relevant information is deleted or destroyed, the other party could move for sanctions based on the "spoliation" of evidence, which sanctions could include fees and costs, a inference to be give to the fact-finder (e.g. jury) which is unfavorable to your case, or even dismissal of your case. Your personal emails could be relevant in several ways, and your business emails almost certainly are: they can be used to help show whether you were or were not working overtime, to see if you had made any admissions to others unfavorable to your case, and whether you had said or done anything which could provide some counterclaim or affirmative defense. As such, you should preserve the emails, since if the other side requests them, you may have to provide them or face sanctions. Note: if they ask for them, you will have the right to object to producing them, for example, on relevancy grounds (if you believe they are not relevant)--but you need to have them in case the court rules you do have to produce them.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.