An article by Doug Austin appearing on the eDiscovery Daily Blog. The article discusses the case of Lazette v. Kulmatycki, No. 3:12CV2416, 2013 U.S. Dist. (N.D. Ohio June 5, 2013). The article states, ",,,the Stored Communications Act (SCA) applied when a supervisor reviewed his former employee’s Gmails through her company-issued smartphone; it covered emails the former employee had not yet opened but not emails she had read but not yet deleted."
The Gmail account in question was the employees personal email account, which she had enabled her company issued blackberry to access. The article interestingly states, "The court also found that the former employer could be held liable through respondeat superior: the actions of the supervisor could be imputed to the company." The emails the employee had opened already were not protected by SCA, since the court held they were not being kept for the purpose of storage.
