Can You Be Fired for Sending Personal E-Mails at Work?

You probably don't think twice about sending personal messages through your work e-mail. But sending e-mails about a seemingly innocuous hobby cost one financial advisor his job when his employer tapped into his work account and read his messages.

Cameron Pettigrew, who worked as a client relations manager at Fidelity Investments in Texas, was fired after supervisors found out he was sending messages about a fantasy football league that he ran.

"Firing a guy for being in a $20 fantasy league?" Pettigrew told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "Let's be honest: that's a complete overreaction."

The growing number of disputes between employers and employees over cyberspace privacy has caught the attention of the Supreme Court, which decided this week to review a lawsuit between a California cop and supervisors who read his racy text messages.




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