Hat tip to The Legal Profession Blog:
From Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc. (NJ, en banc) (March 30, 2010):
This case presents novel questions about the extent to which an employee can expect privacy and confidentiality in e-mails with her attorney, which she sent and received through her personal, password-protected, web-based e-mail account using an employer-issued computer.
The Court held that an employee "could reasonably expect that e-mail communications with her lawyer through her personal, password-protected, web-based e-mail account would remain private, and that sending and receiving them using a company laptop did not eliminate the attorney-client privilege that protected them." Employer's counsel violated Rule 4.4(b) by reading those e-mails and failing to promptly notify the employee. The court noted that no reported New Jersey decision offered direct guidance on the issue.
it seems like the attorney should have known better. If the individual had her own private e-mail account that was password protected, it would seem to me that this is an interception of a third party communication. If this same employee received a personal letter at work through the United States post office, I believe the same would apply – the employer would not have a legal right to open up her personal mail.
Posted by: Private investigator Austin Texas | October 18, 2011 at 02:50 AM