Today, most employers have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, an electronic communications policy prompted by hundreds of discrimination cases in the last few years that have involved e-mail or voice mail communications, Internet access, or other electronic devices. The cases involved electronic devices used for evidence of harassment, as corroboration of an employee's misconduct, to prove an admission of wrongdoing by the sender, or as evidence that a decision-maker's state of mind was tainted by unlawful intent. E-mail has many advantages as a method of communication. However, there are drawbacks that, if not monitored, can expose an employer to liability.
People tend to treat e-mails more as conversations than as formal communications.
Consequently, some would argue that e-mail writers are not as careful about what they say, and certainly not as careful about how they say it. E-mail by its nature seems private, but in fact it is far from private. If an employer is involved in litigation, a huge and dangerous amount of potentially discoverable information can be found on the e-mail system. E-mail messages hardly ever die, even after they are deleted. Computer forensics specialists are skilled at locating and discovering e-mail files that have been deleted or stored.