Lawsuit Over Firm’s Perusal Of Former Worker’s Personal Emails Reinstated

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated litigation filed against an emergency physician practice by a former worker who charged the company with violating federal law for perusing her personal emails.

Amanda Carson, a physician’s assistant, worked at Greenville, South Carolina-based EmergencyMD LLC as an independent contractor from February 2014 until May 2017, according to the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, in Amanda Carson v. EmergencyMD LLC et. al.

In accepting the position, she agreed to be bound by company policies, including its electronic communications policy, the ruling said. Ms. Carson had the opportunity to use work email while at EmergencyMD but elected, with the company’s approval, to use her personal Gmail account for work duties, the ruling said.

She used a shared desktop computer to access her Gmail account while at work, it said.

After her employment was terminated, Ms. Carson went to work for her ex-husband’s company. Litigation ensued between the two companies over unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets claims.