On 4/27/07, John Annunziello <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> "Would it be sacrilege to suggest that, ...perhaps..., ...
> just perhaps ..., they might ... might ... be better off
> with 20 million$$ rather than 150,000 boxes of old records..."
>
> My thoughts exactly.  I wondered how they attached value to each record
> and what the process was.  Does anyone know?


In the case of two of the major plaintiffs, yes.

One was an oil and gas company and the records lost were the supporting
documents for EPA mandated studies of underground gas tanks at retail
stations across the US.  They included paper reports, sonographs, geological
reports, and other data that showed their tanks were all in compliance at
the  time the studies were performed.  A report had been delivered to the
EPA that summarized the results and presented the data in tables to meet the
reporting requirements, but the data that supported the reports was required
to be retained under EPA and other regulations for MANY years ( I believe it
was until the tanks were replaced, or new studies were performed).  Their
award was based on the cost to have these studies performed again and to
regenerate the data.

Another was a financial institution who grants student loans.  They lost
thousands of boxes of support documents, including signed applications, on
unpaid loans.  A portion of these records had been microfilmed, but if I
recall correctly, the state they operated in (sorry, Steve) required PAPER
for all documentation that supports a loan.  Irrespective of this, the award
was based on the cost to regenerate paper copies and re-establish loan files
for each applicant of the records that existed on microfilm, and the cost to
contact and obtain signatures on new documents for all of the others, or
what they would stand to lose on the loans where they were NOT ABLE to
gather that information.

Sadly, the information that was never made available on this case (the
records were sealed) was how many smaller businesses there were that may
have  lost all of their purchasing, business, financial, tax, or personal
records that were never able to recover them and only were awarded the
customary $1-2 a box many/most customers of these large commercial service
providers are made to settle for because of their inability to offer
adequate protection to assets entrusted to them in a contractual agreement.

Larry

-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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