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DEG Corporation
The right to privacy is fundamental, one that most people prize highly. People want to be able to communicate with others without the fear that someone else will go through their communication without permission. When Nancy Chandler first joined DEG Corporation as an employee, she was explicitly informed of the company policy concerning the use of company email and internet. The company’s email policy is also apparent in its wording that employees should not use their work email for any other reasons other than business. It is expected that the employees should adhere to such simple and clear instructions. However, Nancy violated the policy in sending out an email to her colleagues, planning a meeting to possibly establish a labour union.
The case states that the employees of DEG Corporation routinely use the company email for thing such as sending out party invites. None of the employees has ever been reprimanded for this, and this is the main reason why Nancy used the company email to organize the meeting. She probably thought that company management never followed up on checking the email to enforce the policy. Nancy cannot claim the right to privacy in this situation. While the argument that she deserves privacy is a valid one, it does not hold because she used the company email for personal reasons contrary to company policy. The meeting to create a labour union cannot be deemed as company business. Nancy should have sought other means to communicate with her colleagues. The company reacted in this instance because the plan to come up with a labour union might create disturbance and disrupt the normal workings of the company. The company management likely thought that the other instances, such as selling Girl Scout cookies, were harmless and posed no threat to the company.
