Q: Hello. I use to work for the printing department of a Staples store in NY. I was wrongfully terminated about a month ago
Before my termination i suffered harassment, verbal abuse, discrimination and worked in a very hostile environment. I spoke up about it to Hr but nothing was ever done. I was planning on suing the company but i get panic attacks everytime i have conversations with the attorneys about what happened so i decided to not continue with the lawsuit for my health. I still wanted my story to be heard because my reputation was tarnished so i wanted to expose to the employees that still work there of what the company did to me. Every store has its own email where they receive notices everyday and customers print request and all employees are obligated to read. To get to all employees I wanted use those emails as my platform and create an email with my story and send it out to all stores. Is there something illegal about this? Can the company take legal action against me for t
A:
Dont' do it.
You owed a duty of loyalty to your employer while you worked there and can not now use information (employee e-mail lists) which you obtained (arguably confidential; probably trade secrets unless such information is readily available to the public or on-line) because of your employment. I have not read Target's employee handbook or its policies (I am sure there are many) but proceeding down that road could be costly for you and could impair your employ-ability almost anywhere.
Call numerous employment lawyers, and even pay for consultations if necessary, so that they can articulate many reasons why using the internet against any employer is a bad idea.
A few months ago I got a call from a PC who told me the employer was not paying its employees properly and this employee wanted to organize a work stoppage. Doing so was a terrible idea because of Duty of Loyalty to the employer, Faithless Servant Doctrine, Master Servant Doctrine and others, all good law, in New York. Contacting the National Labor Relations Board and organizing employees would have been the best option for that employee and might be something worth considering if your next position has no union protection.
Most of us are not Attorneys General nor do we have the authority to proceed as such. Even those people are accountable for and limited by what they can or should do.
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