On 15 Feb 2003 at 20:25, Jose J. Ortiz-Carlo wrote: > >He found some old messages from a particular long-time (about 7 years > >at the time) list member, copied some parts of those messages out of > >context, and forwarded a printout of those excerpts to the author's > >employer. > > Hi, Ronn! This is a very interesting scenario that you are presenting.
I've seen it happen a half-dozen times... > Was the person in question working for this company at the time the > messages were posted, 7 years ago? That didn't matter in two of the cases.... > Regardless or not of the fact that I may or may not have been with the > same company, I can't see, from a legal point of view, why and how > information that I posted 7 years ago actually has a chance to affect > my standing with the company I work for now. You think most employers *CARE* about that? Besides, in at least one case I saw the timestamps on the E-mails had been changed to make them occur inside the time of employment. > And even if my employers *think* it does, and even if they *tell* me > they think it does, I don't see why I have to abide by their point of > view. So you get fired. Which was the end result of five of the six cases. > In so doing, they would be intruding in my personal and civil > liberties. If I am outside my job at the time in question, their > actions taken against me for what I express in public may (and I > emphasize, MAY) constitute a flagrant violation of my civil rights. Sure. And your recourse is an employment tribunal. Which means you'll never work in that field again, and likely have trouble getting ANY other good job with that on your record. > Whether or not I am correct, of course, lies in the eyes of a expert > in labor laws and civil rights laws. Nope, it lies in the fact that if you drag your employer through the courts then no other employer will want you. > >it seems clear that he was presented with the choice between > >continuing to be active on the Internet and keeping his job�. So it > >is indeed possible for actions taken on e-mail lists like this to > >have serious real-life consequences. > > This is the part I think is illegal. Any lawyers around willing to > formulate an opinion? It can be illegal as you like...if you go after your employer you can basically kiss any good job goodbye ever again *shrugs*. Realities of the situation. In two of the cases the people are fairly young, and my friends. They inisted on dragging it through the courts. One's a scientist, the other is a telecoms engineer. One works at Burger King, the other one works for a local computer shop. Not precisely well paid jobs. Andy Dawn Falcon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
