On November 13, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of one of 2017’s more significant Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) opinions, Syed v. M-I, LLC. (9th Cir. Jan. 20, 2017). In Syed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a background check disclosure which included a liability waiver violated the … Continue Reading
The United State Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Nosal v. United States, 16-1344, declining to weigh in on the scope of unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The Ninth Circuit held in Nosal that David Nosal violated the CFAA by using his past assistant’s password to access his former employer’s … Continue Reading
On November 2nd, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his proposal of the SHIELD Act – Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act – a bill that would heighten data security requirements for companies and better protect New York residents from data breaches of their personal information. “It’s clear that New York’s … Continue Reading
The European Commission recently issued an overall positive review in its first annual report on the E.U. – U.S. Privacy Shield (“Privacy Shield”), after evaluating the Privacy Shield in its joint review with the US last month. The Privacy Shield took effect in August 2016 replacing the EU – US Safeharbor that was invalidated by … Continue Reading
We are proud to once again announce that the Workplace Privacy Report has been nominated for The Expert Institute’s Best Legal Blog Competition. From a field of thousands of nominees, the Workplace Privacy Report has received enough nominations to join one of the largest competitions for legal blog writing online today. If you enjoy the Workplace … Continue Reading
Capturing the time employees’ work can be a difficult business. In addition to the complexity involved with accurately tracking arrival times, lunch breaks, overtime, etc. across a range of federal and state laws (check out our Wage and Hour colleagues who keep up on all of these issues), many employers worry about “buddy punching” or … Continue Reading
In the midst of a heated litigation commenced by an employer against its former employee for alleged violations of a non-compete agreement, an employee returned the cell phone she used during her employment. Prior to returning the phone, she deleted all emails that were stored on the phone. However, the employer was able to access … Continue Reading
Co-author: Devin Rauchwerger A former Lyft driver filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Uber, alleging Uber violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), and other common law invasions of privacy and unfair competition. The plaintiff seeks to represent two classes: 1) all … Continue Reading
Last August, we reported on a Ninth Circuit case in which a former employee was convicted of a crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) for accessing and downloading information from his former company’s database “without authorization.” The former employee has now asked that the U.S. Supreme review the Ninth Circuit’s decision. The … Continue Reading
A federal district court in Indiana recently denied an employer’s motion to compel discovery of employee GPS data in defense of an action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Crabtree v. Angie’s List, Inc. Plaintiffs asserted claims for denial of overtime pay during a one-year period in which they worked as Senior Sales … Continue Reading
A terminated executive who accessed co-worker emails in the process of reporting possible company wrongdoing lost his appeal on several grounds. In Brown Jordan Intl, Inc. v. Carmicle, the Eleventh Circuit found that the employee violated both the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Carmicle reported to the company … Continue Reading
With the proliferation of satellite navigation systems and smart phones, many employers have contemplated using GPS tracking to increase efficiency, and frankly, to keep a better eye on their employees during the work day. The use of GPS tracking in a vehicle can be lawful, there are some limitations to keep in mind. First, you … Continue Reading
On February 2, 2017, the IRS issued a warning to all employers regarding the resurgence of a W-2 based cyber scam. The scam, which targets the corporate world during tax season, is currently “spreading to other sectors, including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.” (irs.gov/news-events). This cyber-scam is simple, but highly successful. It consists of … Continue Reading
In honor of Data Privacy Day, we provide the following “Top 10 for 2017.” While the list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide some hot topics for organizations to consider in 2017. 1. Phishing Attacks and Ransomware – Phishing, as the name implies, is the attempt, usually via email, to obtain sensitive or personal … Continue Reading
It is not uncommon for employers to assign badges to their employees to grant access to certain locations on the employer’s property and parking garages. Many employees have them, use them, lose them and think little of them. But, badges made by Humanyze are so much more, raising concerns from privacy advocates and others. According … Continue Reading
We know that data analytics is being used to influence a wide range of things such as the pair of shoes one might want to buy or what news is “trending” on Facebook. Similar tools are being applied to employer-sponsored group health plans. According to a recent HealthcareITnews article, vendors such as Advanced Plan for … Continue Reading
A motion to dismiss has been filed in a California case filed by a New York woman who claims that the National Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (the “Wiretap Act”), 18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq., by distributing a mobile content app that invades users’ privacy by turning on … Continue Reading
It has been reported that infamous bank robber, Slick Willie Sutton, once said, “I rob banks because that’s where the money is.” Data thieves, understandably, have a similar strategy – go where the data is. The retail industry knows this as it has been a popular target for payment card data. The healthcare and certain … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designed October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. But as we leave October, remember that data security is an ongoing challenge that requires continued vigilance not just from information system hacking, but also from employee error and other threats. Setting up a comprehensive training and awareness program is … Continue Reading
Earlier today the European Union and U.S. officials announced the final approval of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield data transfer agreement (“the Privacy Shield”). Beginning August 1, 2016, organizations based in the U.S. will be able to self-certify their compliance with the Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is meant to replace the EU-U.S. Safe Harbour agreement … Continue Reading
According to a recent New York Times article, “Facebook scrambled on Monday to respond to a new and startling line of attack: accusations of political bias.” Slate followed with a report that the online social networking giant became the subject of a United States Senate inquiry, with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune wanting information about how … Continue Reading
On March 22, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri against Grisham Farm Products, Inc. alleging that its employment application violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (“GINA”). Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Grisham Farm … Continue Reading
Yes! It is the law in more places and circumstances than you suspect. Check out our report to learn more, including suggestions for setting up a training program. Late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported on a survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) that found “employee error” is the most common reason for a … Continue Reading
In the face of seemingly daily news reports of company data breaches and the mounting legislative concern and efforts on both the state and federal level to enact laws safeguarding personal information maintained by companies, employers should be questioning whether they should implement privacy policies to address the protection of personal information they maintain on … Continue Reading
