Good Afternoon,
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It is clear that what was done is morally unethical, but whether there is a legal cause of action is a much tougher question. This could be the beginning of a hostile work environment type of case, but at this point there is probably not enough to bring legal action. The first step to take is to report or file a claim with the Human Resources department. In cases like this it is very important to make sure that you lodge formal complaints so that there is a record of what is going on. However, if you file a complaint, you should know that HR will likely talk to the program director and chairman about the complaint. If your work environment becomes hostile, or you start to feel that you are being retaliated against for filing an HR complaint, then you are to a point where legal action may be appropriate.
Your chairman is under no obligation to keep the emails private if they were sent from or to a work email account (unless there is a different policy in place). Also if they were regarding work, but sent to/from personal email accounts, those emails still won't be private in the workplace.
I hope this information has been helpful. Please let me know if you need further information.
Attorney
I am a practicing attorney with experience in many fields