Can I sue my employer if he invaded my privacy?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can I sue my employer if he invaded my privacy?
I was recently fire from my job because my boss didn’t like some of my private messages to my fiance about my job. He had logged into my facebook account from a computer that I hadn’t used at work since for 3 months and I had not realized my log in was saved. Then processed to read the private messages between my fiance and I. However, he had to scroll through some private conversations between us in my private messenger. Do I have a viable case to sue?
Asked on October 2, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Mississippi
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Does your employer have a policy that addresses access to employee's private email accounts? If it has a clear policy informing workers that their use of personal email accounts on work computers are not private, then it can monitor those messages. If not, do you have protection against such an action under the terms of a uniona gareemnt or employment contract? If not, some courts have found that an employer who accesses personal emails is guilty of violating the "Stored Communications Act". Additionally, some states give protection under invasion of privacy statutes. That having been said, most courts find that workers have "no expectation of privacy" in the workplace, si such access under certain circumstances is permissable. Since laws vary from state-to-state, you should consult directly with a local employment law attorney.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.