Legal Question in Employment Law in California

while I was on vacation, a manager of another department gained acess to my emails. She forward several emails from my system to hers. I asked HR about it and was told that a request was made to enter my emails and that she denied it. My consern is that there were email on my system from conversations I had with HR about this particular manager. Now I feel like she may be targeting me. what are my rights


Asked on 1/05/11, 10:39 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

David Sarnoff Sarnoff + Sarnoff

The answer would, in part, depend on the content of your discussions with HR regarding this manager. If you were making a complaint to HR that the manager was harassing or discriminating against you because of your race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, ancestry, or other protected category, then it is possible that you have a claim against your manager for not only the original discrimination or harassment, but also retaliation for making the complaint in the first place.

You need to speak with a plaintiff's employment law attorney immediately. My office would be happy to speak with you to more fully assess your situation. We can be reached by phone at (213) 536-4236, email at [email protected], or you can visit our website, www.sarnofflaw.com, and fill in our online case evaluation questionnaire. This will provide us with further information needed to provide you with a more detailed answer to your question.

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Answered on 1/10/11, 11:29 pm
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

The employer's rights are to examine any and all data on their computers. Employees have no privacy rights to anything on company computers.

Employees have the 'right' to pay and employee benefits per the state wage and hour laws, and formal company policy as agreed, to be provided a 'safe' workplace to minimize risk of injury, and sometimes are entitled to certain medical/pregnancy leave rights. That's about it. There are no laws against 'unfair treatment' or poor management. In general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice, other than for illegal discrimination, harassment or retaliation under the ADA disability, Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. The employee's goal should be to keep the employer happy. Now, if you believe this had to do with you asserting claims of such illegal discrimination or harassment, then please contact me to discuss the facts and your rights and remedies. I've been doing these cases for over 20 years.

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Answered on 1/11/11, 11:33 am


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