A series of recent cases brought under the Stored Communications Act and related federal and state antisnooping statutes illuminates the intersection between workplace disputes and access to electronic communications in a variety of factual settings. They include:
- A claim that an employer gained unauthorized access to an employee’s Twitter account following a car crash.
- A claim that an employer improperly accessed its former employee’s electronic communications when the employee inadvertently “synced” his new iPhone to his former employer’s device.
- A claim that a former employee had improperly amassed electronic communications from an employer both before and after her termination.
The cases show the courts grappling with how to resolve claims of invasions of privacy or property in electronic communications, and highlight the danger of failing to fully protect one’s electronic communications from exploitation or misuse.
