Decisions involving an employee’s use of the employer's electronic equipment that resulted in disciplinary action being taken against an employee

Decisions involving an employee’s use of the employer's electronic equipment that resulted in disciplinary action being taken against an employee 

[Internet links highlighted in color]

Sprague v Spokane Valley Fire Department

Sprague v. Spokane Valley Fire Department, summarized by Dave Strausfeld, J.D. concerns a fire department captain who was discharged for sending religious messages to coworkers via the department’s internal email system was unable to prove that his First Amendment free speech rights were violated, held a Washington Court of Appeals, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment. The email system was a nonpublic forum, and limiting its usage to fire department business was reasonable and viewpoint neutral. Judge Lawrence-Berrey filed a separate concurring opinion.

In dissent, Chief Judge Fearing argued the department had opened the email system to religious messages by forwarding newsletters from its health insurer about solving personal problems and living a healthy lifestyle, because the government may not “prefer secular chatter over religious oration” 

The full text of Mr. Srausfeld's summary of the decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.employmentlawdaily.com/index.php/news/fired-for-using-internal-email-system-to-send-religious-messages-fire-captain-loses-free-speech-claim/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CCH-Workday+%28WK+WorkDay%29 

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Other decisions involving an employer’s use of electronic equipment underlying  disciplinary action being taken against the employee include:

Fraser v Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
USDC, 135 F. Supp. 2d 623

The court held that an employee using his or her employer's computer equipment for personal business does not enjoy any "right to privacy" barring the employer’s reviewing the employee's e-mail that is stored in its computer system. Federal District Court Judge Anita B. Brody decided that an employer may peruse an employee's e-mail files that are stored in the system without violating either federal or Pennsylvania wiretap laws. On appeal the USCA, Third Circuit, affirmed the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Nationwide on Fraser's wrongful termination claim but vacated and remand the state claims, and his bad-faith claim and forfeiture-for-competition claim for consideration in light of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in Hess v. Gebhard and Co., Inc., 570 Pa. 148.

Leo Gustafson v Town of N. Castle 
45 A.D.3d 766
The employee, an assistant building inspector with the Town of North Castle, was charged and found guilty of falsifying official records with respect to where he was while on duty. The individual was assigned a town vehicle for the purpose of making field inspections in connection with his employment. The vehicle had a global positioning system installed that transmitted information to the town’s computer reporting the vehicle’s location and movements. Based on this information, the Town charged the employee with falsifying town records as to his whereabouts. This, said the Appellate Division, constituted substantial evidence to support the determination that the employee was guilty of falsifying town records.

Ghita v Department of Education of the City of New York 

2008 NY Slip Op 30706(U), Supreme Court, New York County, Docket Number: 0110481/2007 [Not selected for publications in the Official Reports] 
The employee challenged an arbitrator’s determination terminating his employment with the New York City Department of Education after finding him guilty of downloading a file of pornographic material from his AOL email account and openly viewed such pornographic material from a school computer. Supreme Court rejected the individual’s claim that the arbitrator exceeded his authority under Education Law §3020-a, and the award terminating petitioner's employment is a violation of public policy and New York State Law.

Perry v Comm. of Labor 
App. Div. 3rd Dept., 283 A.D.2d 754

An unemployment insurance claimant challenged a determination by the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board denying him benefits after finding that his employment was terminated due to his misconduct. The nature of the individual's alleged misconduct: his misuse of his employer's computer equipment. The employee, a human resource specialist, was dismissed from his position after his employer discovered that he used his computer terminal to frequently access pornographic websites during working hours.