Is Shredding Company Documents Against the Law?
By Kelsi Stovall Guilty or not guilty? That is the question. Did the accounting giant Arthur Anderson knowingly destroy Enron-related documents in anticipation of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission? On May 31, 2005, the Supreme Court reversed the government’s 2002 high-profile conviction against Arthur Anderson, saying in a unanimous decision that jurors relied on flawed instructions when they found that the Big Five accounting firm had obstructed justice by destroying reams of Enron-related files. How does this decision impact the world of records management? Let’s look at some points discussed in an article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun. A key piece of evidence in the case against Arthur Anderson was a memo from one of the firm’s lawyers just before the formal launch of the Enron investigation “reminding” employees to follow the firm’s policy of purging all nonessential paperwork. In doing so, an estimated two tons of documents related to the Houston ener
