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View Full Version : Employer Posted My Personal Email in Break room for all to see


kitty78
Jan 5, 2008, 02:22 AM
Can an employer post a personal email that I only sent to her on the bulletin board in the breakroom for all other employees to read. It contained private personnel information pertaining to my resigning and the reasons I left the business. Is this a breech of employee privacy violated and aren't all personnel records highly confidential? What are my rights as a former employee? I believe he broke the law, It is still posted. Do I have a case to resume action?

RichardBondMan
Jan 5, 2008, 02:38 AM
I would think that if he posted personal info such as you SSAN or health record or maybe some other such confidential info unique only to you, then yes, your privacy was violated and thus privacy laws were probably violated. And yes, personnel records are confidential to a large extent. As to your having a "case to resume action", I am not sure what you mean by that question. If you mean "do I have grounds for a successful lawsuit" then you might want to contact an atty re the lawsuit issue or the employer or govt agency. I am not an attorney or paralegal.

onelaptog
Jan 27, 2008, 11:44 AM
If it was sent to your home to hers you might have a case.. if it was sent from you to where she works you made the mistake.

s_cianci
Jan 27, 2008, 11:53 AM
Corporate e-mail is a tricky thing. Legal issues aside, there's really no guarantee of privacy when you send something by e-mail. Your Systems Administrator can easily hack into your and everyone else's e-mail and view everything received and sent. You need to be mindful of that when using corporate e-mail. A formal, sealed letter of resignation would have been more appropriate than tendering it by e-mail. In any case, whenever discussing such a matter in writing, never give more information than necessary. If you felt there were extenuating circumstances behind your leaving that you needed to discuss with your boss, that should have been done behind closed doors and not in writing. You can seek legal counsel regarding the situation but I think you'd just be shooting into the wind on this one.

ScottGem
Jan 27, 2008, 11:55 AM
When you send any mail, whether it be e-mail or snail mail, it becomes the property of the recipient to do with as they wish.

While this may have been a breach of ethics but its not actionable.