Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Illinois

Can I sue a major email company for negligence? I tried contacting them on several occasions about a user who is abusing their privacy policy by contacting me with harassing and threatening emails for over a long period of time. Not only did they ignore the seriousness of this matter, but they totally dismissed it and made it seem as if the user had not sent emails from their server (which is totally false), instead forging the server, and dismissing the whole issue. They didn't even bother to blacklist this user from my email, and the user is continuing to email me in this way. Is this a negligence lawsuit for not protecting me, or does it have to be a instance where something physical actually occurs?


Asked on 1/19/12, 11:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Negligence doesn't seem to be the right way to view this situation. If you are being threatened and the threats appear "real", you may have an action against the sender if you know who that party is, that could result in a restraining order to include emails, which, if the sender violates the order, could ultimately wind up having the sender being held in contempt of court. I am not otherwise aware of any duty on the part of an ISP or mail host to "protect" users in the way you are suggesting.

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Answered on 1/23/12, 10:33 am


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