Legal Question in Technology Law in Pennsylvania
email privacy
My husband's employer gave him a Blackberry to use for work purposes. He added his personal email account to the Blackberry. The emails were not forwarded to his work address. When he gave it back to them he deleted his personal account from the device. A week later my husband and 4 other employees were fired because of emails that were sent to and from my husband's personal email address. The employer claims the emails were forwarded to my husband's work address. Does the employer have a right to reactivate the Blackberry to receive my husband's personal emails and do they have the right to read them and use the information to terminate employees? Is there a way to cover their tracks to make it appear that the emails were forwarded to their server?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: email privacy
Under federal law, yes, the employer has the right to view the data stored on the employer-provided Blackberry device (if it were employee-owned, that would be another matter - possibly). Is this proper grounds for termination? You would need to reference the employment contract that your husband signed (e.g., he may have been an at-will employee, among other concerns).
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