questions & answers

Question: My ex boss and I had a disagreement about a verification issue through email. She was very rude and disrespectful. The following morning my husband who is her current employee called me to tell me that she cc'd him in his email the conversation. Is this a privacy breech? Although, he is my husband, he is a current employee and I am not. This is second time this has happened. The first time with a different employee. Do I have any legal rights here?

Answer: It depends on what information was in the email. Some personal information, such as social security numbers are protected. The law regarding publication of private facts in Arizona is not well-defined. (http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/publication-private-facts-arizona-0.) However, the elements needed to prove a claim of public disclosure of private facts is there must be a public disclosure of a private fact, that is offensive to a reasonable person, and the fact is not newsworthy. (http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/publication-private-facts.) In order to satisfy the first element of public disclosure, the communication must generally be to a large amount of people. (http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/publication-private-facts.)