Plaintiff worked as a nurse and paramedic for MONOC.  A coworker, Ronco, who was a Facebook friend of Plaintiff, took snapshots of her FB postings, and sent them to their manager, Caruso. When a shooting by a white supremacist occurred, his victims died, but he did not, and commenting on that event, plaintiff posted a comment implying that paramedics should have let the shooter die. Plaintiff was suspended. She asserted a claim for violation of the Federal Stored Communications Act (SCA). , sued for xxx, and employer moved for summary judgment.

1. What were the legal issues in this case? What did the court decide?

2. Why did the Facebook post qualify as a “stored communication”? Why did the manager’s accessing of that post not violate the Stored Communications Act? 

3. Why did the plaintiff’s privacy tort claim also fail?

4. Would the outcome of the case have been different if one of the managers had demanded the coworker’s Facebook password and viewed the post that way? 

5. Should the nurse have been disciplined for the statement she made on Facebook? Why or why not? What are some practical implications of this case for employers and employees?