Marital dispute puts Wiretap Act under unusual scrutiny

Allegations of wiretapping — in thi🐬s case, 🅺secretly accessing a former spouse’s private emails through a shared account — will be front and center in the trial of a Westchester doctor being sued by his anesthesiologist ex.

Whit꧒e Plains federal Judge Vincent Briꩵccetti ruled last week that Annabelle Zaratzian, of West Harrison, NY, has a legitimate beef over her ex-hubby Adel Abadir continuing to get copies of her emails — an account preference he originally set up when they were married. She says he used the setup to access her personal information and feed it to his divorce lawyer.

“Zaratzian had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her personal email, 𓄧regardless of whether her husband’s name was technically the name on the Cablevision account,” the judge wrote in allowing the 2010 case to proceed to trial.

It’s now𒊎 the second US case approved for trial that taps automatic forwarded emails as a violation of the Wiretap Act – and the first ever involving a matrimonial dispute.

The couple were married in 2003 when Abadir,♌ of White Plains, set up an email account for his then-wife, set her password, and set up an “autoforwarding” system so her emails would be sent to his address. He claims it was done with her consent so they’d avoid missing notifications about their children’s extracurricular activities.

Abadir then allegedly took advantage of the access by sendin𒐪g a copy of Zaratzian🍸’s 2008 tax return to his Manhattan lawyer, Larry Carlin, with the message: “Enclosed are materials that may be useful.”

The returns used in the 2010 Family Court case showed Zaratzian earned $400,000 in 2008 as an anesthesiologist. At the time, she did most her work at various Brooklyn hospiཧtals, inclu﷽ding Lutheran Medical Center.

The judge did dismiss some other claims in the suit, including finding Carlin’s use of the tax return didn’t prove the lawyer knew ho🦄w it was obtained.

Abadir’s lawyer Nathanial Marmur said he’s “pleased✱” Briccetti dismissed the suit’s other allegations but said the wiretapping claim could set a “dangerous precedent” because his client “only passively received the emails she continued to forward to him.”

“Federal courts are not the best🔥 place to resolve family disputes,” he said.

Howeve⛦r, Zaratzian’s lawyer and current husband, Harold Burke, hailed the judge’s decision, saying his wife “looks forward to her 🌌day in court.”

The sui🐭t seeks unspecified money damages and a court order protecting the privacy of Zaratzian’s emails.

A status conference is set for Oct. 16, and a trial date wil꧑l likely be ജset at that time.