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What's New
Recent antitrust actions stress
importance of compliance programs
Employee
"Gripe Boards" may cause problems for employers
Recent antitrust actions stress importance of compliance programs
This week, federal prosecutors sued Visa and MasterCard for alleged anticompetitive activities in the credit card market. This is only the latest in a string of public and private lawsuits that have cost companies millions in fines, jury awards, and legal fees. Some of the better-known companies recently involved in such cases are Microsoft, Intel, Toys "R" Us, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Raychem, and Brunswick.
An effective antitrust compliance program can help a company avoid the activities that give rise to antitrust litigation. Also, in the event that a company with a compliance program is sued, an antitrust compliance program can be used as evidence that the company was trying to follow the law, and may reduce the penalties imposed.
10/9/98
(For more information on antitrust compliance, please see the antitrust section of our Consulting page.)
Employee "Gripe Boards" may
cause problems for employers
Many companies have electronic bulletin boards which function much like chat rooms. Employees post jokes, movie reviews, classified ads, and sometimes complaints about the company. However, a recent development in the government's antitrust case against Microsoft shows how these boards can put a company at risk in the event of litigation.
In what may be an effort to prove that management errors or weak products, not Microsoft Corp.'s alleged attempts to create a monopoly, caused demand for Netscape's Internet browser to decline, Microsoft has subpoenaed Netscape employees' internal electronic complaint forums, where workers can and do vent about their workplace, their products, and the cafeteria food. Netscape engineers said the electronic bulletin boards were intended as an "anything goes" forum never meant for outside eyes.
In any litigation where a company claims that it has been injured by a competitor, the plaintiff's own efforts (or asserted lack of efforts) will be an issue. No company is free of internal disagreements about strategy, tactics, etc., but juries don't always realize this. A single email by a company employee, criticizing the company's policies, can impress a jury far out of proportion to its actual importance. Thus, the pleasure (or emotional release) employees may gain by having a bulletin board to vent on should be balanced against the potential risks to the company.
9/23/98
Technology/Law Associates
Lauri@tek-law.com
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