You probably view the E-mail you send as your own personal property. But what about the E-mail you send at work? Many companies now have E-mail policies about who owns the E-mail correspondence and whether the company considers the messages to be confidential. The courts have ruled that E-mails are the property of the company. In Shoars v. Epson, the judge found in favor of the company and stated that it had the right to tap into, read, and print employees’ E-mails. The court reasoned that the company’s property right in the computers prevailed. The company’s ethics was not of consequence, according to the current law. The bottom line: Be careful before you press the Send button. E-mail messages are neither confidential nor your private, exclusive property. (Law for Business and Personal Use, 2000 p. 288)
As a rule of thumb, employees should not use corporate e-mail accounts for their own personal communications. Employees should exercise a great amount of discretion when using E-mail. Most people forget and may say something that could be viewed by others as hostile or non-corporate friendly. This is what may get someone into trouble. When an employee uses corporate e-mail, they should be very careful as to what they write.