Employers should review their electronic communications policies in light of a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision in Stengart v. Loving Care, --- A.2d ----, 2010 WL 1189458 (March 30, 2010) holding that an employee had a legitimate expectation of privacy in e-mail communications that she sent to her attorney through her personal web-based e-mail account using her employer’s laptop computer. The decision in Stengart results from an employer’s failure to provide adequate warning to its employees in an electronic communications policy that personal

e-mails may be recovered—and read—if they are sent through the employer’s electronic system. Stengart teaches the importance of providing employees with clear notice that their privacy rights are limited in the workplace.