E-mails between a terminated physician and his lawyers, while the doctor was still employed at Beth Israel Medical Center, are not protected by the attorney-client privilege, a state judge hearing his $14 million lawsuit against the hospital has determined.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos noted in Scott v. Beth Israel Medical Center, 602736/04, that Beth Israel’s e-mail policy clearly states that employees have “no personal privacy right in any material created, received, saved or sent using the Medical Center communication or computer systems.” The policy also cautions the employees that the hospital reserves the right to access and disclose such material at any time without prior notice.
