were my workplace privacy rights violated?

[hans007]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: chrisms

Originally posted by: her209
I used a company computer to pay my credit card bill and therefore it gives them the right to look at all my past statements and payments. Is that right?

You shouldn't be logging into your personal financial accounts on company workstations. The ethical issue that comes up is a result of your misuse of company equipment.

The company said it was okay.

well basically the company admitted to actually logging into my email account. i even got them to admit it in an email.

they then made a lot of justifications , such as some bs about me being an employee that had been complained about, that i had left yahoo open etc.

nonetheless i replied saying that i could have been the worst employee on earth , violated every single rule in the handbook , surfed email personally and taken a giant poop in the middle of the break room, and that still doesnt mean that its ok.

i also have all of that recorded.


so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".


that said, i'm still not sure what i'd get out of it if i sued other than some satisfaction. i mean i wouldnt say i was materially damaged in any way.

by the way this is a billion dollar company and not some small outfit. i am not sure its worth the hassle to sue, but ill talk to some lawyer cousins this weekend and see what they have to say.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: hans007
well basically the company admitted to actually logging into my email account. i even got them to admit it in an email.

they then made a lot of justifications , such as some bs about me being an employee that had been complained about, that i had left yahoo open etc.

nonetheless i replied saying that i could have been the worst employee on earth , violated every single rule in the handbook , surfed email personally and taken a giant poop in the middle of the break room, and that still doesnt mean that its ok.

i also have all of that recorded.


so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".


that said, i'm still not sure what i'd get out of it if i sued other than some satisfaction. i mean i wouldnt say i was materially damaged in any way.

by the way this is a billion dollar company and not some small outfit. i am not sure its worth the hassle to sue, but ill talk to some lawyer cousins this weekend and see what they have to say.

Good luck. I tried searching for a case dealing with a breach of e-mail privacy in the workplace that was successfully litigated and was unable to find one. That would mean you'd be out a bunch of lawyer fees unless you managed to win or you find a lawyer who will take your case for free. Some lawyer might take a chance on you, so in that case, you'd just be out the time.

My opinion is that you'd be wasting your time because the courts will likely give the same ruling that they've given everyone else - there's no expectation of privacy at work if they've indicated as such. But perhaps you'll be able to convince them differently.

EDIT: For the record, California's privacy laws protect an individual's privacy more than those of any other state in the US. If your profile's correct and you do live in Cali, you might have a shot.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: marincounty
It's unfortunate that we live in America, land of the free, and you have no rights at work.
You may undergo drug testing, backround checks, your telephone and computer all belong to the company and can be searched or monitored at any time. You can be fired for any or no reason at any time, and you have no recourse under the law.
But hey, that's what you get when corporations own the government.

Corporations can't fire you for some reasons, though you are correct that they can usually fire you for NO reason. They can't fire you for being a woman. They can't fire you for being too old. They can't fire you for being a Muslim. They can't fire you for being gay. But they can fire you for other reasons, or for no reason at all. If you can prove that they fired you unjustly, you're good to go... but you have to be able to prove that that's the reason they fired you.

You choose what company you work for. If you don't like their policies, quit and go somewhere else that has policies that are more to your liking... or better yet, start your own company. But keep in mind that companies aren't in business to keep you employed. They're in business to be productive and make money. If you're not productive, you're a drain on their resources.

So would you recommend that employers hire people who may be abusing drugs? Would you recommend that employees be allowed to do whatever they want with the cpmpany's computers? Install whatever software they want, regardless of how it affects the computer (or worse, the network)? Allow people to browse the Web or check e-mail without any limitations? Talk on the phone to their friends part of the day? or to their competitors? or all day long? or long distance? What's your solution?

 

[NL5]

Why would you open your PRIVATE email account on a company computer. EVERYTHING that is done on THEIR computer and THEIR network belongs to THEM.

Even worse, would be opening your bank accounts on their property. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Privacy laws don't apply for you, it's not your computer. The privacy laws would pertain to the company.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

Right but that has nothing to do with the company send an email from his account. Or accessing data on HIS account.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: her209
Wow, just because the computer belongs to them doesn't give them the all authority to do whatever they want. I'd consult a lawyer. Its clearly a violation of business ethics.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

j00 g0t 0wned.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

 

[DrPizza]

I thought about this for a while.

My best guess: If they had been opening emails from your wife (which you had never accessed from the company workstation), they'd be violating your privacy.

However, if you went to court, they will win with a simple: He abruptly quit to work for our competitor. While checking his work station, we observed that he was using an external email program, and clearly was communicating with our competitor. We checked his correspondences to verify that he wasn't using his company work station to send proprietary information.

At first, I thought it was unethical of your company to view the email. But, I think this is plenty of justification. While you may not have actually used the computer for communication to your new company, the circumstantial evidence at the moment they forwarded that email was that yes, you were using it for that purpose.

Oh, and lastly, you said it was a billion dollar company... billion dollar companies already have expensive, good lawyers. I don't think you would have a chance of winning. If this was a mom&pop company, you *might* have a chance. But, as everyone has said, it's not worth the bother.

 

[Phokus]

I'm not a lawyer, but i think when the company forwarded the email from your account, they possibly could have violated some privacy law.

 

[Lifted]

Originally posted by: hans007

so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Haha, nice!

Now they are squirming and want you out of there ASAP so

1) You hopefully forget about them illegaly opening and forwarding your personal email.

2) You don't get a chance to tell (too many) other employees and stir up a sh1t storm.


Job well done. They've probably even blocked inbound email from your yahoo account (as pointless at that is, and they know it) so you can't communicate with other employees about what has happened, etc.


Bravo.

 

[theGlove]

well I believe both parties are wrong.

First,the OP shouldn't be using company resources for private matters (personal email). I know nearly everybody does this but still....

Second, the company shouldn't be reading your personal email. They have a right to read your work email.

so it evens out,enjoy your free 2 weeks of pay

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I thought about this for a while.

My best guess: If they had been opening emails from your wife (which you had never accessed from the company workstation), they'd be violating your privacy.

However, if you went to court, they will win with a simple: He abruptly quit to work for our competitor. While checking his work station, we observed that he was using an external email program, and clearly was communicating with our competitor. We checked his correspondences to verify that he wasn't using his company work station to send proprietary information.

At first, I thought it was unethical of your company to view the email. But, I think this is plenty of justification. While you may not have actually used the computer for communication to your new company, the circumstantial evidence at the moment they forwarded that email was that yes, you were using it for that purpose.

Oh, and lastly, you said it was a billion dollar company... billion dollar companies already have expensive, good lawyers. I don't think you would have a chance of winning. If this was a mom&pop company, you *might* have a chance. But, as everyone has said, it's not worth the bother.

that doesnt work becuase i didnt go to work for a competitor.

besides i'm prettysure even if i did, i am pretty sure nothing justifies searchng my yahoo mail.


i mean like i told them, i could have been the worst employee on earth violated every rule at the company and you cant search my yahoo mail. you can fire me. thats it, but not search my mail. and seeing as i was quitting anyway, they basically could do nothing but decided to search my mail anywya.

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

How would they do that? Well gee, you insert your debit card into an ATM and then you type in your PIN. Many banks allow you to view statements on the screen or have them printed out right there at the ATM.

And actually, no. No information was stored on the company's computer. The information was stored off-site at the e-mail provider's database sites. To access this data, they had to use the employee's information and retrieve the data from their server. On top of that, they used the person's account to forward e-mail.

 

[NL5]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

How would they do that? Well gee, you insert your debit card into an ATM and then you type in your PIN. Many banks allow you to view statements on the screen or have them printed out right there at the ATM.

And actually, no. No information was stored on the company's computer. The information was stored off-site at the e-mail provider's database sites. To access this data, they had to use the employee's information and retrieve the data from their server. On top of that, they used the person's account to forward e-mail.

The data was on THEIR computer, right? Or did the go to yahoo and access his account with a yahoo computer? If it wasn't on the companies computer how did they see it. Answer - it was on the computer because he brought it into the workplace.

I've been to court before and seen employees try and use this as a defense. It doesn't work. Period.

Don't do anything on a company computer that you don't want them to be able to see.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

They didn't search their own computer. They didn't search through files on their computer and find this information. They used the OP's credentials to access his personal information on another computer via the Internet. He made it easy for them by leaving the account logged in, but I think it is a very important distinction that they did not get this information off their computer or by monitoring their network, they got it by accessing his password-protected account on a server they do not own.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

How would they do that? Well gee, you insert your debit card into an ATM and then you type in your PIN. Many banks allow you to view statements on the screen or have them printed out right there at the ATM.

And actually, no. No information was stored on the company's computer. The information was stored off-site at the e-mail provider's database sites. To access this data, they had to use the employee's information and retrieve the data from their server. On top of that, they used the person's account to forward e-mail.

The data was on THEIR computer, right? Or did the go to yahoo and access his account with a yahoo computer? If it wasn't on the companies computer how did they see it. Answer - it was on the computer because he brought it into the workplace.

I've been to court before and seen employees try and use this as a defense. It doesn't work. Period.

Don't do anything on a company computer that you don't want them to be able to see.

What don't you understand about the data not being on the company's computer? A shortcut that allowed you to retrieve the data was on the company's computer, but by no means was the actual information on the company's computer.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment and left his personal e-mail logged in and unsecured, he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Fixed. Or at least, improved.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

They didn't search their own computer. They didn't search through files on their computer and find this information. They used the OP's credentials to access his personal information on another computer via the Internet. He made it easy for them by leaving the account logged in, but I think it is a very important distinction that they did not get this information off their computer or by monitoring their network, they got it by accessing his password-protected account on a server they do not own.

Actually, they didn't use the OP's credentials. As you stated, the OP used the OPs credentials and left his e-mail sitting there, unsecured. He left his account sitting open on the company's computer. That's yet another important distinction. They didn't log in to his account using his username and password.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: TreyRandom

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: NL5

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: hans007
so far,... i have been told to go home and not come back and that they are paying me my entire 2 weeks notice period to stay home. the vice president of HR said that i was completely in the wrong and they completely had every right to search my yahoo mail, and since they determined i was not a security risk (their justification of looking at my email in the first place) that they deleted the email and now it was all "ok".

Sounds like they are now trying to cover their own ass in order not to get sued now. Even if you believe that the company is "in the right" (which I still think they aren't) to read through your personal e-mails while you are away from your desk, remember that, they used your account without authorization to forward the email to themselves.

You are wrong. Anything you do on THEIR computer is THEIR business. He is a fool for doing his PRIVATE business on a company computer. I'll bet he even signed an agreement stating that he is aware of this fact. Try and sue them. Good luck with that.

If he sent a personal e-mail using Yahoo or read an e-mail on his Yahoo account and the company's monitoring software picked up the contents, that's FINE. I'm not disputing that! I don't think anyone in this thread is disputing that. But what the company did was actively used his account while he was away, without his permission, to obtain personal information about him, in this case the offer letter from the prospective company. Good luck trying to convince a judge that leaving your Yahoo account logged on while away from your desk implies permission and consent to search and "seizure" (copying the e-mail by forward).

You're missing the point, and don't understand the law. When he logged onto his account using their equipment he opened himself up for their search. They have every right to see what is being done with their equipment, and what is being brought into the workplace. If you have a locker at work, guess what, they can search that anytime as well.

You are confusing searches of your property versus searches of the companies property. Two entirely different things.

Say a company searches your locker and you have your debit card and pin number in there. Is it ok for them to also search through your checking account for suspicious history?

How would they even do that?

What you guys are trying to argue that a person (in this case a company) doesn't have the right to search their own computer. Kinda crazy thinking if you ask me.

They didn't search their own computer. They didn't search through files on their computer and find this information. They used the OP's credentials to access his personal information on another computer via the Internet. He made it easy for them by leaving the account logged in, but I think it is a very important distinction that they did not get this information off their computer or by monitoring their network, they got it by accessing his password-protected account on a server they do not own.

Actually, they didn't use the OP's credentials. As you stated, the OP used the OPs credentials and left his e-mail sitting there, unsecured. He left his account sitting open on the company's computer. That's yet another important distinction. They didn't log in to his account using his username and password.

A cookie is the OP credentials.