You're Fired! Legal Ramifications of Illegal E-Mail Content

It's pretty much a normal day at the office.  You turn on your computer, sign in to the network, and check your e-mail.  After getting your morning cup of coffee you scan the new messages and reply to a few that are personal.  You forward the joke your cousin e-mailed you to several of your friends and co-workers, because it was pretty funny, if a bit risque.  You shoot off a scathing missive to the editor of the local newspaper, sharing your personal opinion about the latest political news story.  Then you turn to your business day.

When you return from lunch you go to check your e-mail but discover you can't access it.  You contact the IT department and learn that there is a problem with your account, that they're checking into it, and that someone will get back with you after they've identified the problem.  Frustrated but confident the issue will be resolved, you continue on with your work day.  Until your boss calls you into his office later that afternoon, handing you printouts of a number of your e-mail messages.  You verify that yes, they are yours.  It's then that you learn you're being terminated.

Fantasy?  Hardly.  More and more people are learning that it's not just the data files on your computer and the Internet sites you frequent that can get you in trouble.  It's also about the content of those electronic notes you dash off to a friend or coworker.  And yes, employees can be and have been fired for what they forward as well as what they write.  You don't have to be the originator of the message to be identified as a wrongdoer.  Neither is ignorance an excuse.  "I didn't know the attachment had a virus when I opened it" doesn't cut it when a company's entire network goes down.

Too many times employees get the idea that the computer they use at work (along with the desk, the chair, the cubicle, and the parking space) is "mine" and therefore can be used however they choose.  Wrong!  These items (including the network your computer is connected to, the servers you use, the applications you run, and the Internet connection you access) all belong to the company.  As such, policies are usually in place that dictate what an employee can or cannot do with company property.  While many companies agree that e-mail is usually private, the privacy issue disappears the moment a violation of the law or immoral conduct is identified.  Most employers have a new hire sign a paper saying he is aware of the company policies and agrees to abide by them.  Didn't read the paper before you signed it?  Oh well, too bad, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

In my years of computer support experience I've had opportunity to assist in searching through an employee's data files and e-mail messages.  Fortunately those instances were few and far between, but companies do take this type of problem very seriously.  Nobody wants to deal with lawsuits from employees or customers who could take offense at the content of an e-mail sent by a careless employee.  Questions are also raised about e-mails that contain illegal content, or contain references to activities that are illegal.  Deleting e-mail messages does not eliminate the problem, as there are programs available to computer techs that can recover deleted data from servers.

I do not exaggerate when I say this is a very serious issue.  Here in Houston, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal is being investigated for allegedly sending romantic e-mails to his administrative assistant; allegedly receiving and forwarding e-mails containing pornographic images and racist images and commentary; and allegedly deleting e-mails that the courts wanted to use as evidence in the investigation.  Rosenthal has been asked to step down as DA, something he refuses to do.  This one will play out in the news for awhile.  It also emphasizes that just because you think you're okay doesn't mean you really are (Rosenthal insisted in a court transcript that it was legal to use the county's computers to do fund-raising for his political campaign, in spite of state law that says otherwise).

So how you do know what you can send out and what you can't?  First, check your company's policies, especially if your signature is on file stating you already know them.  It's never too late to learn what the company allows.  Second, never use your company e-mail address for personal use.  Use a personal account that you can access via your Internet browser.  Third, just because you're using your own e-mail account while on your company's equipment doesn't mean you can't be held liable for your content.  A good rule of thumb is this:  If you can send something to your spouse, your parents, your kids, and your pastor or priest, and they're not upset, it's probably okay.  Fourth, realize that "bad" messages slip through the cracks of even the most protected e-mail systems.  When you receive one, immediately notify your IT department or supervisor as to what you've received and let them decide how it needs to be handled.  Finally, if you have any doubt as to whether a particular message, picture, or joke could be taken wrongly, DO NOT SEND IT OUT.  Once you hit the Enter key you can't get it back.

There's no need to be paranoid.  The bottom line is using some common sense will keep you from getting yourself in trouble over your e-mail messages.  So take a deep breath and turn on the computer again.  That's it...you're doing fine....