COMPANY NOT ENTITLED TO GET E-MAILS BETWEEN EMPLOYEE AND LAWYER

Most case law here in Massachusetts has led to the proposition that workers for the most part have no expectation of privacy in using computers owned by thier employers. However, a recent Massachusetts case shows that employers are sometimes limited in what they can view on thier computers.

In the case, a trial court judge ruled that a company couldn't have access to email conversations between an employee and his lawyer conducted via the employee's private web based email account, even though they were transmitted and stored on a laptop computer owned by the company. (Private communications between a client and an attorney are generally considered privileged and proteced from disclosure.)

Prior to leaving the company, the employee consulted with an attorney about various legal matters related to his employment, including a non-competition agreement. He eventually left to join a competitor, which led to a lawsuite filed by his former employer.

An important factor in the case, according to the judge, is that most people would not realize that private emails could be read by a company simply by examining the hard disk of the computer.

If an employer, however, warns employees that it has the technology available to access email from the computer's hard drive and reserves the right to read them, then employees would not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, the judge said.

Mark Greene & Associates (MG&A)
Attorneys & Counselors at Law
Assinippi Village, Hanover, MA
www.MarkGreeneLaw.com
Mark@MarkGreeneLaw.com