Employer's theft of e-mails from the personal account of an employee must prove actual damages despite other courts to the contrary

Nonprofit and Church Legal Trends - Free Edition - November December 2008 (free edition)

In a case stemming from an employer's theft of e-mails from the personal account of an employee who had sued for sexual harassment, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently became the first federal circuit to hold that plaintiffs must prove actual damages in order to be eligible for an award of statutory damages under the federal Stored Communications Act.

Application: For churches and nonprofits, it is critical that they have a well drafted electronic communication polices to prevent such access unless on the public computer or server but this case stands primarily for the proposition that this area is ripe for disastrous results without a good policy that is routinely followed.