Eric Govan was a public relations manager for the Golden State Warriors basketball team. Without thinking he was doing any wrong, he sent a joke e-mail to a list of sportswriters and other media contacts across the country with the subject line, “Ghetto Prom.”

Shortly after, the team President Robert Rowell sent out his own e-mail stating that, “It came to my attention moments ago that one of our employees sent out an e-mail that was in extreme poor taste and completely unprofessional. The employee responsible for sending this e-mail has been dealt with in an appropriate manner.” Translation: fired.

From offensive jokes to the transmission of highly-confidential company information, e-mail mistakes are becoming more common. They often lead to firings, public embarrassment, lost clients, and even criminal charges.


What makes e-mail highly susceptible to these issues is that it’s impulsive, easy to distribute, and indelible. If your company wants to avoid a public embarrassment like the Golden State Warriors basketball team, here are a few important guidelines to follow:

DO: Establish comprehensive, written e-mail policies, and have all employees sign and date a copy stating they were informed about the policy.

DO: Stress that e-mail is a business tool, and spell out what is – and isn’t - appropriate business communication.

DO: Install policy-based, content filtering software to monitor and block e-mail that violates policies or regulatory rules.

DON’T: Expect employees to train themselves. Make employees aware of the risks, rights, responsibilities, and repercussions in writing.

DON’T: Create separate policies for executives or managers; everyone must follow the same guidelines.

DON’T: Forget to include policies for international employees.

DON’T: Forget to clearly define that racist, derogatory, and sexually explicit jokes, pictures, and communications are strictly against company policy.

If you need help writing your company’s email policy, give us a call. We can have it done in no time.