Legal Question in Technology Law in California
I wrote a business email to the owner of another business. Within my emails I have this disclaimer:
"Confidentiality Notice: the information contained in this email and any attachments may be legally privileged and confidential. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender and permanently delete the e-mail and any attachments immediately. You should not retain, copy or use this e-mail or any attachments for any purpose, nor disclose all or any part of the contents to any other person.
The person I wrote the email to forwarded all of my messages to clients of mine including all text within the subject, body and the disclaimer message. I have been let go from one of my clients due to the direct result of him emailing my clients.
1} Did he break the law?
2)Can I have him arrested
3)Can I sue him for damages as a result of him forwarding my messages to clients and me losing 1 client as of the date of this message?
1 Answer from Attorneys
A question may arise as to the applicability of the confidentiality notice under the given facts. It seems that all recipients of the e-mail were intended, at least in a sense. The initial recipient intended the e-mail to be received by the people he forwarded it to. I know there are "well, yeah, but....." responses to this argument against your legal case, but I think the absence of a strict "do not forward" compunction in your confidentiality notice may be fatal to your case. At least, I would so argue if defending the case.
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