Emails marked "private" are supposed to be marked that way because they contain information which would not be considered "public information" such as personnel matters. If an such an email concerning an employee is not marked private, that employee could sue the city for damages. Apparently the problem the city had was that some people weren't sure if the matter was considered public information or not, so they marked it private to be safe. I think the city needs to spend some time orienting employees who are emailing what is and what isn't public information. It's in the North Carolina General Statutes.