Cengage Advantage Books: Foundations of the Legal Environment of Business 2nd Edition by Marianne Jennings, Albert Napier, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 10

Arthur Andersen had served as the auditor for Enron, with David Duncan as the partner handling the account. On October 16, 2001, Enron refused to change its earnings release in response to Andersen's concerns. Andersen then had to end its audit engagement, and its legal counsel sent to employees a copy of the company's document destruction policy. Enron announced publicly that it was facing an SEC inquiry. During this time, employees at Andersen began shredding and destroying both paper and electronic documents.
The SEC began a formal investigation on October 30, 2001. On November 8, 2001, Andersen received subpoenas for its records on Enron. Duncan's secretary sent the following e-mail: "Per Dave-No more shredding.… We have been officially served for our documents." Enron filed for bankruptcy less than a month later. Duncan was fired and later pleaded guilty to witness tampering (a plea he was later permitted to withdraw).
Applying the Park case and the obstruction statute, who is criminally liable for shredding the documents? the employees who did it? the managers who ordered it to begin? the company itself? Were the employees who were shredding technically not in violation of the law while documents were being destroyed because there was no formal notice until November 8? [ Arthur Andersen LLP v. U.S., 544 U.S. 696 (2005).]