8315 Information Management
8315 - LITIGATION HOLD PROCEDURE
Any Board member or employee who receives specific information and/or written notification regarding one of the following instances shall immediately provide that information and/or written notification to the District Administrator:
Any Board member or employee who receives specific information and/or written notification regarding one of the following instances shall immediately provide that information and/or written notification to the District Administrator:
A. an individual, parent or student intends to appeal a student discipline to State court;
B. litigation is imminent even though the litigation has not yet been filed in Federal or State court;
C. the Board is served with litigation, including, but not limited to, notice of a lawsuit in Federal or State court, or notice of a student disciplinary appeal to State court;
D. an employee, labor union or other person intends to file a claim against the Board, its member, employees or agents at an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission;
E. an administrative agency, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commision, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission, intends to investigate a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents;
F. a third party requests that a Board member or employee maintain information that could be at issue in litigation or potential litigation against that third party;
G. the District Administrator recommends the termination of an employee to the Board pursuant to a labor contract;
H. the Board is exploring, contemplating or initiating litigation.
Upon receipt, the District Administrator shall review the specific information and/or written notification to determine whether Policy 8315 - Information Management - applies. If it does, the District Administrator shall initiate a Litigation Hold applicable to all relevant information. The District Administrator also will notify the Board of the scope of and reason for implementation of the Litigation Hold.
To initiate a "Litigation Hold," the District Administrator or designee shall immediately notify the School District Records Commission to suspend all records disposal procedures until the matter under the "Litigation Hold" is fully defined and information falling under the "Litigation Hold" identified. The notification to the School District Records Commission shall be documented.
A "Litigation Hold" is a procedure that identifies and preserves information relevant to a matter by identifying individuals in possession or custody of paper documents, electronically stored information ("ESI") and electronic media storing ESI, and informing them of their obligation to preserve such information outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A. Third parties with control or custody of paper documents, ESI or electronic media storing ESI also are notified of the "Litigation Hold" and requested to preserve that information until notified otherwise. All information covered by a "Litigation Hold" must be prospectively preserved and cannot be disposed of under the "Records Retention and Disposal" requirements of AG 8310E until the "Litigation Hold" is removed.
Definitions
"Information" includes all paper documents and ESI.
"Documents" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary.
"ESI" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any electronic media from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary. It includes, but is not limited to, e-mails, e-mail attachments, instant messages, word processing files, spreadsheets, pictures, application program and data files, databases, data files, metadata, system files, electronic calendar appointments, scheduling program files, TIFF files, PDF files, MPG files, JPG files, GIF files, network share files, internal websites, external websites, newsgroups, directories, security and access information, legacy data, audio recordings, voice mails, phone logs, faxes, internet histories, caches, cookies or logs of activity on computer systems that may have been used to process or store electronic data.
"Electronic Media" includes, but is not limited to, hard drives (including portable hard disk drives "HDD's"), floppy drives, disaster recovery media, and storage media (including DVD's CD's, floppy discs, Zip discs/drives, Jazz discs/drives, USB memory drives, jump discs/drives, flash discs/drives, keychain discs/drives, thumb discs/drives, smart cards, micro-film, backup tapes, cassette tapes, cartridges, etc.), accessed, used and/or stored on/in/through the following locations: networks and servers; laptop and desktop work computers; home and personal computers; other computer systems; backup computers or servers; archives; personal digital assistants ("PDAs" – including Palm, Blackberry, cellular phone, tablet PC, etc.); pagers; firewalls; audit trails and logs, printers; copiers; scanners; digital cameras; photographic devices; or video cameras and devices. Electronic media shall also include any item containing or maintaining ESI that is obtained by the District for Board member or employee usage or that Board member or employee uses for such purpose (even if privately owned by the Board member or employee) from the date this policy is adopted into the future.
ESI Team
The District Administrator may utilize an Electronically Stored Information Team ("ESI Team") to implement a "Litigation Hold." The ESI Team shall be responsible for recommending to the District Administrator actions necessary to implement the "Litigation Hold" and for any other action(s) designated to it by the District Administrator. The ESI Team shall be comprised of the District Record Custodian, the primary District Information Technology administrator, a District Operations Administrator, and any other individual the District Administrator designates. If the District is utilizing an attorney to handle the matter that is the cause of the "Litigation Hold," the attorney will also be a member of the ESI Team or attend key ESI Team meetings as directed by the District Administrator. The ESI Team shall document any meetings held and recommended actions.
The District Administrator, or the ESI Team (if the District Administrator determines to utilize one), will (a) define the matter under the "Litigation Hold"; (b) identify information falling under the "Litigation Hold"; (c) identify all individuals and third party entities who have custody of documents, ESI or electronic media containing ESI regarding the matter under the "Litigation Hold"; and (d) identify all individuals responsible for records disposal under AG 8310E – "Records Retention and Disposal". If the ESI Team completed the above actions, it will report the above information to the District Administrator. The District Administrator or designee will notify all identified individuals, third party entities and the School District Records Commission of the "Litigation Hold" and their responsibility to preserve all information regarding the "Litigation Hold" matter in their custody or control in a readily accessible form. After distribution of the "Litigation Hold" notifications, the ESI Team (if one is used) or the District Administrator or designee shall be responsible for regularly verifying that all documents, ESI and electronic media containing ESI regarding the "Litigation Hold" matter are properly preserved. The ESI Team (if one is used) or the District Administrator or designee will review the "Litigation Hold" as necessary, and at least on a quarterly basis, the District Administrator or designee will reissue the Litigation Hold notice to the affected individuals and third party entities to remind them of their ongoing duty to properly preserve all information covered by the "Litigation Hold." The District Administrator or designee, in conjunction with the ESI Team (if one is used), will document all steps taken to implement the "Litigation Hold."
A "Litigation Hold" shall remain in place until removed by the Board. A "Litigation Hold" may be removed when the litigation or administrative agency matter has been resolved or can no longer be initiated. The District Administrator or designee shall notify the School District Records Commission and all individuals and third party entities notified of a "Litigation Hold" when the "Litigation Hold" for a matter is removed.
This administrative guideline, along with Policy 8315, shall be posted and distributed in a manner that places all Board members and employees on notice of their responsibilities under Policy 8315 - "Information Management" – and this administrative guideline.
F.R.C.P. 34, 37(f)
© Neola 2010
8315 - INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The Board of Education recognizes its responsibility, in certain circumstances, to maintain information created, maintained or otherwise stored by the District outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A. In such situations, a "Litigation Hold" procedure will be utilized to identify and preserve information relevant to a specific matter. "Information" includes both paper documents and electronically stored information ("ESI"). When implementing the "Litigation Hold," the District will identify individuals in possession or custody of paper documents, ESI and electronic media containing ESI, and inform them of their obligation to preserve the documents and ESI outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A. The District will also identify third parties with custody or control over paper documents, ESI, or electronic media storing ESI, and request them to preserve that information. All information falling within a "Litigation Hold," which is under the control of the District, must be preserved in a readily accessible form and cannot be disposed of under the "Records Retention and Disposal" requirements of AG 8310E. Failure to comply with a Litigation Hold notice may result in disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination.
Instances where the Board must maintain information outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A include:
A. when the Board has specific information and/or written notice from an individual, parent or student of an intent to file an appeal of student discipline to State court;
B. when the Board has specific information and/or written notice that litigation is imminent even though the litigation has not yet been filed in Federal or State court;
C. when the Board is served with litigation, including, but not limited to, notice of a lawsuit in Federal or State court, or notice of a student disciplinary appeal to State court;
D. when the Board receives specific information and/or written notification from an employee, labor union, or other person of an intent to file a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents at an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission regarding a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents;
E. when the Board receives specific information and/or written notification from an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission regarding a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents;
F. when the Board receives written notification from a third party requesting that the Board maintain information that could be at issue in litigation or potential litigation against that third party;
G. when the District Administrator recommends the termination of an employee to the Board pursuant to a labor contract;
H. when the Board explores, contemplates or initiates litigation.
Definitions
"Documents" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary.
"ESI" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any electronic media from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary. It includes, but is not limited to, e-mails, e-mail attachments, instant messages, word processing files, spreadsheets, pictures, application program and data files, databases, data files, metadata, system files, electronic calendar appointments, scheduling program files, TIFF files, PDF files, MPG files, JPG files, GIF files, network share files, internal websites, external websites, newsgroups, directories, security and access information, legacy data, audio recordings, voice mails, phone logs, faxes, internet histories, caches, cookies or logs of activity on computer systems that may have been used to process or store electronic data.
"Electronic media" includes, but is not limited to, hard drives (including portable hard disk drives "HDD's"), floppy drives, disaster recovery media, and storage media (including DVD's, CD's, floppy discs, Zip discs/drives, Jazz discs/drives, USB memory drives, jump disc/drives, flash discs/drives, keychain discs/drives, thumb discs/drives, smart cards, micro-film, backup tapes, cassette tapes, cartridges, etc.), accessed, used and/or stored on/in/through the following locations: networks and servers; laptop and desktop work computers; home and personal computers; other computer systems; backup computers or servers; archives; personal digital assistants ("PDAs" – including Palm, Blackberry, cellular phone, tablet PC, etc.); pagers; firewalls; audit trails and logs, printers; copiers; scanners; digital cameras; photographic devices; and video cameras and devices. Electronic media shall also include any item containing or maintaining ESI that is obtained by the District for Board member or employee usage or that an employee uses for such purpose (even if privately owned by the Board member or employee) from the date this policy is adopted into the future.
Initiation and Removal of a "Litigation Hold"
The Board or the District Administrator may initiate a "Litigation Hold" under this policy. If the District Administrator initiates a "Litigation Hold," s/he or the Board's legal counsel will notify the Board of the reason the Litigation Hold was instituted and its scope. When implementing a Litigation Hold, the Board or District Administrator may utilize an Electronically Stored Information Team ("ESI Team"). The Board's legal counsel shall be involved in implementation of the "Litigation Hold Procedure" outlined in AG 8315.
A "Litigation Hold" shall remain in place until removed by the Board. A "Litigation Hold" may be removed when the litigation or administrative agency matter has been resolved or can no longer be initiated. Any information maintained under this policy shall fall back under the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A once the "Litigation Hold" is removed.
The District Administrator shall develop administrative guidelines outlining the procedures to be followed by Board members and employees when initiating and implementing a "Litigation Hold." This policy and its related administrative guidelines shall be posted and distributed in the manner described in AG 8315.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 34, 37(f)
© Neola 2009
The Board of Education recognizes its responsibility, in certain circumstances, to maintain information created, maintained or otherwise stored by the District outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A. In such situations, a "Litigation Hold" procedure will be utilized to identify and preserve information relevant to a specific matter. "Information" includes both paper documents and electronically stored information ("ESI"). When implementing the "Litigation Hold," the District will identify individuals in possession or custody of paper documents, ESI and electronic media containing ESI, and inform them of their obligation to preserve the documents and ESI outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A. The District will also identify third parties with custody or control over paper documents, ESI, or electronic media storing ESI, and request them to preserve that information. All information falling within a "Litigation Hold," which is under the control of the District, must be preserved in a readily accessible form and cannot be disposed of under the "Records Retention and Disposal" requirements of AG 8310E. Failure to comply with a Litigation Hold notice may result in disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination.
Instances where the Board must maintain information outside the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A include:
A. when the Board has specific information and/or written notice from an individual, parent or student of an intent to file an appeal of student discipline to State court;
B. when the Board has specific information and/or written notice that litigation is imminent even though the litigation has not yet been filed in Federal or State court;
C. when the Board is served with litigation, including, but not limited to, notice of a lawsuit in Federal or State court, or notice of a student disciplinary appeal to State court;
D. when the Board receives specific information and/or written notification from an employee, labor union, or other person of an intent to file a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents at an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission regarding a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents;
E. when the Board receives specific information and/or written notification from an administrative agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, State Personnel Board of Review, or a Civil Service Commission regarding a claim against the Board, its members, employees or agents;
F. when the Board receives written notification from a third party requesting that the Board maintain information that could be at issue in litigation or potential litigation against that third party;
G. when the District Administrator recommends the termination of an employee to the Board pursuant to a labor contract;
H. when the Board explores, contemplates or initiates litigation.
Definitions
"Documents" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any medium from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary.
"ESI" includes, but is not limited to, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, blueprints, sound recordings, images and other data or data compilations stored in any electronic media from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary. It includes, but is not limited to, e-mails, e-mail attachments, instant messages, word processing files, spreadsheets, pictures, application program and data files, databases, data files, metadata, system files, electronic calendar appointments, scheduling program files, TIFF files, PDF files, MPG files, JPG files, GIF files, network share files, internal websites, external websites, newsgroups, directories, security and access information, legacy data, audio recordings, voice mails, phone logs, faxes, internet histories, caches, cookies or logs of activity on computer systems that may have been used to process or store electronic data.
"Electronic media" includes, but is not limited to, hard drives (including portable hard disk drives "HDD's"), floppy drives, disaster recovery media, and storage media (including DVD's, CD's, floppy discs, Zip discs/drives, Jazz discs/drives, USB memory drives, jump disc/drives, flash discs/drives, keychain discs/drives, thumb discs/drives, smart cards, micro-film, backup tapes, cassette tapes, cartridges, etc.), accessed, used and/or stored on/in/through the following locations: networks and servers; laptop and desktop work computers; home and personal computers; other computer systems; backup computers or servers; archives; personal digital assistants ("PDAs" – including Palm, Blackberry, cellular phone, tablet PC, etc.); pagers; firewalls; audit trails and logs, printers; copiers; scanners; digital cameras; photographic devices; and video cameras and devices. Electronic media shall also include any item containing or maintaining ESI that is obtained by the District for Board member or employee usage or that an employee uses for such purpose (even if privately owned by the Board member or employee) from the date this policy is adopted into the future.
Initiation and Removal of a "Litigation Hold"
The Board or the District Administrator may initiate a "Litigation Hold" under this policy. If the District Administrator initiates a "Litigation Hold," s/he or the Board's legal counsel will notify the Board of the reason the Litigation Hold was instituted and its scope. When implementing a Litigation Hold, the Board or District Administrator may utilize an Electronically Stored Information Team ("ESI Team"). The Board's legal counsel shall be involved in implementation of the "Litigation Hold Procedure" outlined in AG 8315.
A "Litigation Hold" shall remain in place until removed by the Board. A "Litigation Hold" may be removed when the litigation or administrative agency matter has been resolved or can no longer be initiated. Any information maintained under this policy shall fall back under the "Records Retention Schedule" in AG 8310A once the "Litigation Hold" is removed.
The District Administrator shall develop administrative guidelines outlining the procedures to be followed by Board members and employees when initiating and implementing a "Litigation Hold." This policy and its related administrative guidelines shall be posted and distributed in the manner described in AG 8315.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 34, 37(f)
© Neola 2009