After an employee is let go, his mail keeps coming in, and the boss opens it, believing it’s all business-related. However, some of it is confidential, and the fired employee sues over invasion of privacy. Who won this real-life case?

The facts:
One of the pieces of mail contained a letter — mistakenly addressed — from the employee’s lawyer. The letter contained details of a discrimination suit the employee was planning to file against the employer in connection with the firing.

The supervisor opened the letter, believing it to be standard business correspondence that need to be dealt with because the employer was no longer there. After seeing the contents of the letter, the supervisor made a copy and kept it in a file in case the employee did file the lawsuit.

The employer said:
The letter was sent to the company’s address, and as such was company property. And the supervisor hadn’t opened the letter with the purpose of learning confidential details of a lawsuit, so there was no intent to invade the employee’s privacy.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employee.

Why: A judge ruled that keeping a copy of the lawyer’s letter was an invasion of the employee’s privacy. In handing down the ruling, the judge noted the company indeed had a right to open and examine mail addressed to the ex-employee but delivered to the
company’s office. Most times, legitimate business needs are served by such action.

But that doesn’t give employers a free hand to keep mail that’s obviously of a personal, confidential nature, especially documents of the type that pass between attorneys and clients. There are distinct differences in types of mail.

Making careful choices
It’s a common situation. An employee leaves, sometimes under less-than-ideal circumstances, but the mail for that employee keeps coming in. What to do?

This case illustrates that managers must make some careful choices. Mail that’s obviously business-related may be opened and used strictly for business purposes. Other types of mail – say, from a lawyer or the IRS – should be returned to the sender or forwarded to the ex-employee (if you have a forwarding address) unopened if possible. To do otherwise leaves the company vulnerable to some serious charges.

Cite: Roth v. Farner-Bocken Co.

Tags: confidential, discrmination, lawsuit, privacy