WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION

It has been our experience that many corporate clients, when faced with a serious workplace misconduct issue, typically make the same serious errors:

1.Failing to immediately seek advice from counsel

It is our practice to work directly with external legal counsel on all investigations. We do NOT take any investigative action until the client has consulted with counsel.

2.Conducting suspect or witness interviews themselves

We have found that, when misconduct is reported or detected, clients often take matters into their own hands, conducting interviews and attempting to gather evidence on their own.

Interviews are the most important part of any investigation. Conducting an interview without proper preparation or training can have a negative impact on an investigation, often creating problems that cannot be remedied.

3.Using unqualified staff to conduct forensic IT investigations

The analysis of laptop and desktop computers, Blackberries or other devices, as well as client servers, is an intrinsic part of most workplace investigations. We regularly encounter situations where clients have tasked their own in-house IT department with gathering evidence from these sources.

In-house IT personnel usually have no knowledge of the proper methods for gathering, preserving and analyzing IT evidence. Unless IT evidence is collected in the proper fashion, there can be a loss of continuity and the evidence can be tainted or destroyed