Favorable Ruling for California Employers — Employers, However, Must Ensure Their Computer Use and Electronic Communications Policies Are Up-to-Date

From the employers’ perspective, favorable court of appeal rulings are relatively rare, but the California Court of Appeal recently issued such a ruling in Holmes v. Petrovich Development Company, LLC, et al. 2011 WL 117230 (Jan. 13, 2011) regarding employee privacy rights with respect to the use of the employer’s computer and e-mail systems.

In Holmes v. Petrovich Development Company, the court found that an employee’s exchange of e-mail communications with her attorney were not confidential because (1) the e-mails were sent from her company work computer, and (2) the company maintained a policy (which the employee was aware of and acknowledged) that e-mails from company computers were not private communications and could be monitored and reviewed by the company.