Can I sue my employer if he invaded my privacy?
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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 6 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.
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