All information from plaintiffs’ social networking profiles and postings that relate to their general emotions, feelings, and mental states must be produced in discovery when they allege severe emotional trauma and harassment against their employer, a federal court in Indiana has ruled. (EEOC v. Simply Storage Management LLC, S.D. Ind., No. 1:09-cv-1223, discovery
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Texting/Privacy Case — City of Ontario v. Quon
As highlighted by many news sources, including CNN.com and MSNBC.com, the United States Supreme Court listened to oral argument (pdf) today in the case of City of Ontario v. Quon today. This is the case involving a police officer who claimed his employer violated his privacy when it read the personal text messages (which happened
New Jersey Supreme Court Rules on Personal E-mail Privacy: Stengart v. Loving Care
Co-author: Joseph J. Lazzarotti
The New Jersey’s highest Court has concluded that an employee, Marina Stengart, could reasonably expect that e-mail communication with her lawyer through her personal, password-protected, web-based e-mail account would remain private, and that sending and receiving them using a company laptop did not eliminate the attorney-client privilege that protected them. The Court
Texting & Sexting – Supreme Court to Consider Employees’ Expectation of Privacy in Text Messages
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent grant of certiorari in City of Ontario, Ontario Police Department, and Lloyd Scharf v. Jeff Quon, et al. highlights the effects new technologies continue to have on workplace privacy issues. One issue the Court will consider is whether a California police department violated the privacy of one of its officers when it read the personal text messages on his department issued pager. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Court sided with the police officer when it ruled that users of text messaging services “have a reasonable expectation of privacy” regarding messages stored on the service provider’s network.
The underlying suit was filed by police Sgt. Jeff Quon, his wife, his girlfriend, and another police sergeant after one of Quon’s superiors audited his messages and found that many of them were sexually explicit and personal in nature. Among the defendants were the City of Ontario, the Ontario Police Department, and Arch Wireless Operating. Co. Inc. Plaintiffs sought damages for alleged violation of their privacy rights.
While this case involves a public sector entity, its outcome is likely to affect electronic communications policies and practices across the country, whether by public or privacy employers. Continue Reading Texting & Sexting – Supreme Court to Consider Employees’ Expectation of Privacy in Text Messages
Employers Don’t Put Your Heads In the Sand, You May Be Required to Monitor, Investigate and Report Employees Accessing Child Pornography
The New Jersey Appellate Division (Doe v. XYC Corporation) and the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin (Maypark v. Securitas Serv. USA Inc. & Sigler v. Kobinsky) have both examined an employer’s duty to monitor employees conduct while at work, and have reached drastically different results. Additionally, at least seven states—Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri
Do You Know How to Take Out the Trash?
Joining the growing number of states which have enacted laws regulating the destruction of records to prevent possible identity theft, the Rhode Island Legislature passed H. 5092 on October 29, 2009. The bill requires businesses and government agencies to completely destroy records containing personal information, or render the personal information unusable, before disposing of records whether
Social Network Monitors Beware
A New Jersey restaurant has been hit with a jury verdict in favor of two waiters who were fired after the restaurant’s managers accessed a private social networking site where the waiters were criticizing management.
As the social networking (e.g., MySpace and Facebook) “craze” continues to expand, employers must be more mindful of privacy