March 22, 2010
While it is unusual for the U.S. Supreme Court to address cases involving scandalous facts or potentially impacting electronic discovery, the Court will face both in April when it hears City of Ontario v. Quon, No. 08-1332. At issue is a government employee’s expectation of privacy in personal text messages (some salacious in nature) sent and received via an employer-issued device, but the Court’s ruling potentially could have a broader impact on private-sector workplace practices as well as preservation and production principles for electronic communications beyond text messages.
In their article, "‘Quon’ Could Have Consequences for E-Discovery," prepared for The National Law Journal (March 22, 2010), Farrah Pepper and Jeffrey Coren of Gibson Dunn provide an analysis of the case and its possible far-reaching implications.
Reprinted with permission from The National Law Journal (March 22, 2010), © 2010 ALM Media Properties, LLC.