In a cautionary tale for all employers, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently held in Van Alstyne v. Electronic Scriptorium Limited,1 that an employer who accessed a former employee's personal e-mail account could be held liable for punitive damages and attorneys' fees under the federal Stored Communications Act (SCA), even without proof of any actual damages. Notably, this ruling narrowly construed the available remedies under the SCA by holding that minimum statutory damages of $1,000 per violation can be recovered only with proof of actual damages. By contrast, three federal district courts previously had ruled that statutory damages (in addition to punitive damages and attorneys' fees) can be recovered even without proof of actual damages.

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