Email help

Roisin Abhaile

Hi all. Long time lurker here

A hypothetical question for you if you don't mind.

Say a person has had a dispute with a company, and the company unethically emails said person with some nasty words.

Then lets say the person in question (who is horrified) posts the contents of that email on a social media site (without blatantly disclosing the name of the company/ sender, (although it may have been obvious to some, from just reading the email contents)).

Would the company then be within their rights to email that person with legal threats for publishing what they call "a private email discussion"?


If at all possible, I would like a definitive answer on this, without any guessing, as I can't afford to be inaccurate. Any help would be a huge ...er..help. Although this is all hypothetical you understand.

godtabh

Roisin Abhaile wrote: »

If at all possible, I would like a definitive answer on this, without any guessing, as I can't afford to be inaccurate. Any help would be a huge ...er..help. Although this is all hypothetical you understand.

Hypothetical hire a lawyer

Roisin Abhaile

^ Ah, I understand.

I was trying very hard to adhere to an acceptable post, and then messed it up with that last part. Sorry

So strike that bit, and all opinions welcome.:)

billy few mates

Is this 'hypothetical person' an employee or a customer of the company...?

matt-dublin

Unless there's something in the email that defies some form of contract then all you have is a complaint.

billy few mates

matt-dublin wrote: »

Unless there's something in the email that defies some form of contract then all you have is a complaint.

and you've 'agreed' to be bound by that contract...!

the world wonders

Roisin Abhaile wrote: »

Would the company then be within their rights to email that person with legal threats for publishing what they call "a private email discussion"?

Yes, in general anyone can say whatever they like in an email, including baseless legal threats. There is no equivalent in Ireland of the US anti-SLAPP laws that prevent companies using legal threats to silence free speech.

If at all possible, I would like a definitive answer on this, without any guessing, as I can't afford to be inaccurate.

Nobody can give you a definitive answer without knowing the full details of the case.

Roisin Abhaile

Thanks for the replies.

So there would be nothing to stop this person posting further email content from the company to social media?

There would not be any contract prohibiting the person from doing so.

The person is not an employee of the company.

LowKeyReturn

Roisin Abhaile wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

So there would be nothing to stop this person posting further email content from the company to social media?

There would not be any contract prohibiting the person from doing so.

The person is not an employee of the company.

A contract requires; offer acceptance and consideration. Silence does not denote consent.

If I make the statement on the bottom of an email "This email may not reproduced in any form or reposted if you do not agree to these terms delete immediately" I can't see how there is a contract or any obligation to carry out the positive act of deletion.

I suppose if I made the statement "Reposting of this email requires written consent" you might have some course of action but then I'm still looking for a forbearance so surely I must supply some consideration.

All this ignores the intention to create legal relations.

Any and all corrections and comment welcome - I've always wondered about those little disclaimers on the bottom of emails.

matt-dublin

Unless to post if defamatory you might get a libel case out of it.

If the person is an employee of the company and posting without the company's consent the. You can lodge a complaint with the company.

Depending on the data being published you could also try the data protection commissioner.

To be honest though we don't have enough specifics to make any real suggestions.

My advice would be to get onto a no win no fee solicitor and see do you have any case anywhere

Roisin Abhaile

Thank you everyone.

The purpose of this thread was to reassure myself that the company have no course of action against the person. There was no footnote attached to any of the emails.

LowKeyReturn

Roisin Abhaile wrote: »

Thank you everyone.

The purpose of this thread was to reassure myself that the company have no course of action against the person. There was no footnote attached to any of the emails.

I'm not sure you've got that from this thread. Even if you have I'd suggest getting proper legal advice.