Weston Lawyers: Textual Responsibility

Sometime ago a friend of ours was riding with his attorney on a major highway that is considered somewhat dangerous. He wasn’t paying much attention to the driver as he was engaged in a phone conversation. After he hung up, he looked over at the attorney/driver. Much to his dismay, the attorney was driving the car – with his knee! Why? Apparently so he could finish an email to a client! To add insult to injury he was driving 30 miles over the speed limit. Before our friend could say anything the driver noticed those eerie blue flashing lights behind him. Thankfully, he got snagged.

Texting and driving don't mix. There have been a lot of accidents due to people texting/emailing while they should have their hands on the wheel. Recently, texting was the culprit in a train accident. But there are other problems with texting that are beginning to surface. In a recent article called Textual Harassment, the author indicated that text messaging in the workplace is fast becoming a growing liability for employers. The problem? Inappropriate and offensive texts that are being sent to employees cell phones often by male employees to female employees. There are also many documented cases where texting has been used as a tool in creating a hostile workplace for employees by mangers or coworkers.

More and more text messages and cell phone records are being used as evidence in court cases. This past April text messages helped two female soccer players who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against their coach obtain a $450,000 settlement from the school by which he was employed. In one study fully 23% of stalking victims interviewed reported that the alleged stalker had used some form of texting or emailing to carry out the harassment. Over this past year we have also seen several high profile people embarrassed when their private text messages and emails became public.

There's an old cliché that perhaps all of us should remember before we type that e-mail or text that message. It says "Make your words sweet today because tomorrow you may have to eat them!" It's important to remember that before you text, tweet or e-mail, every one of your messages can be retrieved and used against you. There's a lesson in this for all of us and it's this: take great care as to what you text and when. It could come back to haunt you.