Any employer who has faced potential class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits knows what a headache they can be. Due to a recent court ruling, employers have a lot more to worry about. That case, Pippins v. KPMG, has caused tremendous turmoil and confusion among those who follow employment litigation and electronic discovery.
The case is unusual because a judge ordered the defendant, accounting giant KPMG, to preserve a huge number of hard drives while the litigation is ongoing. According to some observers, the financial and logistical costs of simply maintaining all that information will be so expensive that the defendant may need to settle.