Dow Chemical Co.'s termination last week of employees for their abuses of the company's e-mail system has sent ripples of concern through employees and companies alike. Many ask about the legalities and ramifications of Dow Chemical's actions as well as what this will mean for the future. Three WMU faculty experts commented this week on e-mail privacy and the action by Dow Chemical.
Companies have an unfettered right to observe and monitor their employees e-mail habits.
Hawker is currently teaching a class in law and ethics in which the e-mail privacy issue has been discussed often. He says while the courts have sided with companies, a larger question remains about the extent of the companies monitoring of employees' habits. What's driving this, Kayany says, is that companies are losing control of the workplace. Productivity is down and it's true that a lot of time is wasted by employees who send and receive personal e-mail or surf the Web. Dr. Peter M. Saunders, WMU associate professor of business information systems and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, says Dow Chemical Co.'s crackdown on offensive e-mail and inappropriate use of the Internet by employees is another illustration of how society is grappling with the need for boundaries in cyberspace.