Is it illegal to access a coworkers personal email account?

Question by webbygirl Reward: 25 Pond Points + 10 Knowledge Tokens Status: Pending a resolution
I was absent from work for two days due to a family emergency. The first morning of being absent, I didn't call in until 2 hours after I should have, I was too panicked to realize I needed to call in, but I ended up calling. The person covering my desk at that moment was logged into my email account. She had received emails from my part-time employer and took it upon herself to respond to them. She told him that I was a no call no show and that I needed to call in if he heard from me. Well since then I have lost my second job because he thinks I am irresponsible. Is what she did illegal in the state of missouri??



Reply from MikeBrWade User Rating:  120 Knowledge Tokens
Wholy crud, that is very illegal. However, so is being on your personal account at work which I am assuming you logged into and just left on that day. Where do you work, private sector, gov, waiting tables.. etc? Also, does either company have a policy on holding multiple jobs some do not allow it. However, sending an email from your account could be considered identity theft and it would be worth looking into if you want to go that route. Personally I would talk to the person and express your concern, maybe she did it because she was worried about you or some other noble cause. As for the being let go from the other job I don't think missouri is a right to work state, so you might have some legal wiggle room there if that was the only basis for being let go.
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Reply from bionic2 User Rating:  640 Knowledge Tokens
Sorry you lost your job over it and I hope that you family is OK now.
However,at work, we should not use the company E-mail for personal use since it is company business and property. In the case that costumers may connect for addressing work problems or orders, it should be OK for another worker to take over if the employee is not present. A different e-mail address should be used for privet e-mail ( with a different password) and not during working time. Also, remember that many companies do monitor our computers and E-mails so it is safer to keep our privet life separate and watch what we E-mail on our work computer because once the password is on it,it can be retrieved.When the company e-mail is used, there should be no conflict if a coworker takes over.At my work place , all e-mails and web sites that a worker opens are monitored including the time spent on it and people are not told about it.

I suggest not to go after the illegal issues because you faulted too and you may get into more troubles. Perhaps a talk with the boss about the emergency and apology about not being able to call may still help if you really liked this job. Remind him of the good things you did for the company.
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