IfI sent an e-mail to my manager that contained confidential information and he prints it out and lets every employee read it, canI sue?
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IfI sent an e-mail to my manager that contained confidential information and he prints it out and lets every employee read it, canI sue?
I was being disrespected at work. I brought it to my managers attention and I let him know how I was feeling disrespected. He got in my face, shoved his hands in my face and said that he does not have to respect me. In fact, he doesn’t respect me and never will respect me. All he cares about is the money that goes in and out of the place. I ended up walking out because I didn’t agree. I sent him an e-mail explaining why I felt disrespected. I put private matters in the e-mail. I thought it was confidential but he printed it out and let the servers and cooks read it.
Asked on September 27, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
UNLESS the manager had specifically agreed to keep the email confidential, he was under no obligation to do so--as a general matter, any person can share any communication, email, letter, text message, voice mail, etc. they receive with any person or persons they choose. Doing so may be ethically improper in many cases, but it's not illegal unless there was some sort of confidentiality agreement, either generally as to all communications or specifically as to this one, in force. (If there was a confidentiality agreement, then if the manager breached it, you could potentially sue him for breach of contract.)
For the future, bear in mind that there is no obligation that your manager(s) or coworkers respect you--they are allowed to disrespect you. The best course of action is usually, if it's not worth putting up with, to seek other employment but not otherwise not try to take any action or say anything, since they do in fact have the right to act badly if they choose.
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