Employment Standards Question

[the_rickster]

Hi All,

wondering if someone can help with some input on the following situation. I have perused the ESA and really can't find any pertinent info.

employee was issued a company laptop and company issued email address. the email address never worked properly (dont know the details of why), so the employee began using his own personal email address. the laptop was "a piece of junk" and the employee stopped using that too, after months of requesting a replacement, and starting bringing their own to work. fast forward a few months... employer goes on employees personal computer while the employee is not at their office and searches through employees personal emails... finding emails that he doesnt agree with... and calls the employee out on them. employer has two (contradicting) excuses: 1. i was sitting at your desk and saw my name in the subject field, so i clicked on it. 2. i wanted to see what kind of business you had been conducting lately.

supposedly the first comment is a blatant lie because the email was apparently filed into a folder and not seen from the main inbox (meaning the employer was literally going through the folders). 2nd comment is probably more along the lines of the truth, even though the business folder is clearly marked.

anyways...

i understand that the employee is using the computer and the email for WORK related purposes (the employee is not being compensated for their use)... does the employer have any right to access this system without consent? furthermore, the employer, after the conversation, requests that the employee hand over the company issued blackberry and says "this is completely unrelated" then asks the employee to use their own phone from now on. employment continues as per usual.