Employers may unequivocally monitor any message that utilizes company-provided email" (Sherman, 2007, pg. 649). Problems arise when the employer attempts other methods monitoring as Sherman notes; "The law is not clear, however, when an employer accesses an employee's webmail" (Sherman, pg. 649). Similar to the Deal v Spears case, the employer must take certain precautions in order to secure the right of monitoring. Many companies have developed policies and guidelines that are communicated to the employee in order to meet those requirements, but there are plenty of employee rights organizations that worry about infringement of employee privacy. As technology can afford anonymity so to can it provide evidence that see through such anonymity. Thomas Jefferson once wrote; "Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made... And opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy" (Foley ed., 1900, pg. 726). Though computers were invented long after Jefferson had passed through this world, his words are appropriate even today. Laws, employees and employers must all change with the times.

Laws will need to be updated in order to fully address such issues as employee privacy, while at the same time employers need to be afforded rights as well. The employers...

Employees should expect a certain amount of privacy during work hours, but not at the expense of the employer. It would seem that the most efficient method of addressing this issue is to have all the expectations, rights and privileges of both the employer and the employee spelled out in no uncertain terms. Each party would then know how to conduct itself accordingly. If such expectations had been spelled out before the Spears had installed the monitoring device on the phone line, then Deal may have conducted herself in a more circumspect manner, and if she had continued in her misbehavior, then the Spears would have more than enough rope to hang her.
References

Foley, J.P. (ed.); (1900) the Jeffersonian cyclopedia: A comprehensive collection of the views of Thomas Jefferson, pg. 726

Sherman, M.A.; (2007) Webmail at work: The case for protection against employer monitoring, Touro Law Review, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 647-683

United States Court of Appeals; (1992) Sibbie Deal; Calvin Lucas, Appellees v. Newell Spears; Juanita Spears, doing business as White Oak Package Store, Appellants, 980 F.2d 1153, 61 USLW 2353, 8 IER Cases 105

Williams, K.R.; (2008) Protecting what you thought was yours: Expanding employee privacy to protect the attorney-client privilege from employer computer…