Can I get my email from ex-employer?

[houckg]

I was recently terminated by my Oregon employer, ostensibly because I was 'under-performing', but it came within one week of my asking about alternative positions within the company. I was told to clear out my office in 1 hour, and while doing so I was trying to save/send some of my email to my home mailbox. The supervisor who fired me said that I 'could make arrangements to get it later'; however, now they are saying that I can only have (MS Outlook Express) folders that are wholly non-company related, and they (my ex-supervisor) determined that to be a single folder. I have several technical, personal, home, insurance, humor,
contacts, etc. folders which have little or nothing to do with the company. (Included in there, however, is my whole chronology of messages related to my firing, which I would like to have, and my ex-supervisor would probably not like me to have, and she is doing the 'filtering'.)

Can I force them to provide access to the email to pull out non-company material? At least material not related to any sort of 'industrial secrets', etc.?

Thanks.

 

[D. D. Lessenberry]

Probably not. Most companies don't want you using their computers for non-work related items such as humor, etc.

As for the technical, they can claim that it is their property.

Sorry.