[Wurlitzer]

“If you want to write your congressman, do it on your own computer, on your own time.”

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Even that will not prevent someone from being fired. I know first hand a person who was fired because they used their own PC/E-Mail account to handle customer communication in the evening or when the totally inept IT department could not keep the servers up.

The IT dept. falling back on recent (at that time) federal legislation demanded that any communication only go through the company servers. Great until a customer is down and they need some replacement equipment immediately and the only method is an employee’s own PC and e-mail account.

Like many IT departments this one felt the company and the employees existed to serve IT and not the other way around.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

This is entirely different case. He was conducting company business that might result in financial loss, embarassment, litigation or legal claims, and doing it outside of approved company channels, thereby bypassing safeguards and oversight.

And, I think you can be fairly fired for any activity that is embarassing or inconvenient for your employer, whether or not it directly affects you job. If you work for a defense contractor, don't testify before Congress how screwed up the Navy is, for instance.