Question about business law: A. Stuart is vying for a promotion, but faces compe

Question

Question about business law:

A. Stuart is vying for a promotion, but faces competition from a co-worker, Brenda. Without authorization, Stuart accesses stored company records and discovers an unfavorable e-mail message Brenda had written about the company. Stuart sends the message to his supervisor in hopes of keeping Brenda from getting the promotion. Discuss whether Stuart has violated any statute and, if so, what sanctions he may face.

B. Daniel went onto an Internet message board and found that his ex-wife, Faye, had posted him a message calling him a fat, insensitive jerk who only cared about watching sports on TV. Does Daniel have any protection against Faye's making such statements to a potentially large number of readers, some of whom may know Daniel and some of whom may not?

Explanation / Answer

Answer A:

In this case Stuart has violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)

“The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 is a United States federal statute that prohibits a third party from intercepting or disclosing communications without authorization.”

The Act applies to all the communications which are made, are in transit or stored in computers. It can be wire, oral, and electronic communications like from emails, etc.

By violating Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Stuart can face following sanctions:

Criminal Penalties – Such as Federal imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or monetary fines can be imposed

Civil liability – Such as Paying for damages to the victim, additional punitive damages or attorney fees of the concerned party.

Answer B

United States Constitution has the First Amendment which protects freedom of speech. Under this case Faye has just expressed her feelings and opinion. This Case is not related to any of following exceptions of this amendment:

So, Faye has the First Amendment protection of free speech where she can express her views and opinions.

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