A Florida appellate court has ruled that a teenaged daughter’s post on Facebook mentioning her father’s confidential settlement of an age discrimination claim breached a confidentiality provision in the settlement agreement, barring the father from collecting an $80,000 settlement. Gulliver Schools, Inc. v. Snay, No. 3D13-1952 (Fla 3d DCA Feb. 26, 2014).
The plaintiff,
The Florida Senate is considering joining a multitude of states which have banned employers from requesting or requiring access to current or prospective employees’ social media accounts.
Senate Bill SB198, entitled “An Act Relating to Social Media Privacy,” would prohibit employers from requiring or requesting access to employee or applicant social media accounts and
Federal Appeals Court address HIPAA preemption of state law.
Continue Reading HIPAA Preempts Less Protective State Law Concerning Medical Records of Deceased Nursing Home Residents, Eleventh Circuit Rules
Florida has joined 20 other states have enacted legislation addressing teen sexting. Because employees frequently transmit these materials using their employer’s networks, retail, entertainment, hospitality and other industries that traditionally employ large numbers of younger workers may soon get dragged into criminal proceedings because of “sexting” by their younger workers.
Continue Reading Florida’s New “Sexting” Law Makes it Criminal for Minors to Transmit Sexually Explicit Materials Electronically
On April 12, 2011, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law S.B. 132/H.B. 87. Under this law, Maryland employers, except in limited circumstances, are prohibited from using an individual’s consumer credit history for hiring or other employment purposes. 
Beginning October 1, 2011, employers are prohibited from using credit report data to deny employment, discharge an
A new law in New York (eff. April 1, 2011) and a flurry of bills across the country (New Jersey, Nevada, Florida, Connecticut and Oregon) are aimed at requiring businesses to deal with their electronic waste in one form or another. Before discarding that old laptop, businesses should make sure they do so securely and in accordance with applicable state law.
Continue Reading Wondering What To Do With Your “Electronic Waste”?
In the face of increasing unemployment, in March 2011, Florida, Michigan, and Montana joined the ranks of approximately fifteen other states that are considering bills limiting employers’ ability to use credit checks for employment purposes.
Florida. Florida’s Senate Bill 1562, introduced on March 3, would prohibit employers from using an applicant’s personal credit history
On April 16, 2010, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a settlement (pdf) with Certegy Check Services, Inc. over how the company secures consumer records. The Attorney General’s enforcement action stems from a massive data breach by a former Certegy employee who stole personal identification information from approximately 5.9 million consumer files.
According to the
Less than one month into 2010 the trend to address data security, destruction, and encryption has
continued among state lawmakers. Specifically, Florida, Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and New York all have introduced, reintroduced, or amended legislation of this kind.
While 5 states remain without data breach notice bills (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Dakota), Congress is considering legislation, the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA) (H.R. 2221), that would preempt all state notification laws and instead establish a national breach notice standard.
As we have previously mentioned, we anticipate data privacy and security legislation and case law to be at the forefront of legal issues in 2010. Employers should begin by reading the Data Security Primer and consider implementing comprehensive data security policies and procedures that would allow them to comply with the various state laws that may impact their business. Continue Reading Data Security, Destruction and Encryption Leads the Way for States in 2010