Sent e-mail from personal acct. to coworker, while I wasn't on company premises but coworker was. Subject of e-mail was about third person, another coworker. Incriminating e-mail originated from public computer, sent from private acct. to a company acct. Message received by coworker through company account, on company computer. Content of message was moderately disparaging of third person. 2 months passes, coworker who received e-mail dismissed for unrelated issue, computer is scanned, e-mail is found. Third person (subject of e-mail) is daughter of owner of company. I am dismissed for making disparaging comments regarding owner's daughter. Is dismissal against Michigan law or Federal law?
2007-12-13 04:56:52 · 11 answers · asked by embrague 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The dismissal violates no law.
2007-12-13 05:00:00 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Depending upon the nature of your employment, and whether or not there is (or was) a contract in place between yourself and your employer which stipulated criteria for dismissal, your termination may indeed be valid.
Many states, such as Michigan, take an "at will" approach toward employment; you can quit or be let go at any time for virtually any reason. In certain circumstances, contracts may be negotiated which clearly define offenses which can result in termination, but if you do not have such a contract, then the employer was not violating any known laws in your termination.
You made the mistake of griping about someone on a public system, a bad move on your part. Keep in mind next time that **any** e-mail either sent or received on a company's network can be viewed by the company - you have no reasonable expectation of privacy if you're using their resources (and doubly so if you're using the e-mail account they set up for you). Next time you feel like griping about someone you work with, do it over a drink or two at a bar with your friend, not in a way that can be permanently retained.
2007-12-13 05:09:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your employer did not violate the law to dismiss you. Unless you are under a union or employment contract you are considered at will and can be terminated for anything except discrimination. Discrimination would mean that your termination was due to your sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, disability, etc. --- see www.eeoc.gov.
Your email was transmitted into the company. When it arrived in a company owned account it become property of the employer (not the co-worker). Anything in email that get onto the company computers is the property of the company and can be read, used against the employees, by the employer. There is no privacy on the employer's computers -- that has been upheld by Federal courts.
Your next challenge should be to get unemployment benefits from this employer, until you can get a different job..
2007-12-13 05:15:13 · answer #3 · answered by CatLaw 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, your dismissal was not against state or federal law. Sorry, but in this case you do not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy."
If you had sent the email from your home email address to your friend's home email address, then it might be a different story, but you didn't.
Employers have the right to monitor email correspondence for any reason and recent laws indicate that they are now required to preserve data, including email, for extended periods of time for legal and legal forensic reasons. You communicated from your computer to the work computer, so that placed the tranmission in large part over your employer's system.
I gotta say, it is hugely bad form to be critical of an employer (or employer's daughter) in any email correspondence -- and the fact that you emailed it to your co-worker's work email was probably a violation of company policy as well.
2007-12-13 05:20:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its all good.
The only law that matters is that you were employed "at will", meaning you can be let go at any time for any reason or no reason at all, and can quit the same way, and now you are not.
But you are a lot wiser about what kind of messages to send, and about how smart it is to misuse the company's computer resources, even if it was someone else's PC, the mail server and the overall network.
That should help you hang on to your next job.
2007-12-13 05:02:19 · answer #5 · answered by Barry C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does Michigan have an employee at will law?
If so, they can fire you for any reason except race, national origin, physical disability.
Those issues would start a Federal case because of the type of discrimination. But state law usually allows companies to fire employees for any reason or no reason - unless there is a contract involved like teachers usually have.
2007-12-13 05:13:27 · answer #6 · answered by bsol08 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was found on a work computer...I don't think its going to matter where you were. Inexusable behavior, but if you want to know what the company policy is, check the company handbook, if they have one. If Michigan is a free will state, and you don't have a contract to work, then I believe they can fire you. Most companies have policies in place to explain their rules for different issues. If you were fired within the first 90 days or whatever your companies probationary period is, they don't even need a reason.
2007-12-13 05:16:04 · answer #7 · answered by Sparxfly 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would do it! My friends are used to getting e greetings from me all the time for special occasions (birthdays, anniversary's, etc.) while I'm alive, so why not from beyond.
2016-04-09 00:51:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
anything you SEND to a public computer (at employers site) is PUBLIC. Once sent to such a site, you have NO expectation of privacy.
2007-12-13 05:01:34 · answer #9 · answered by Mike 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nope; falls under right to work corporate hiring and firing policy.
2007-12-13 05:01:42 · answer #10 · answered by wizjp 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋