Last week, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) announced that a physician group affiliated with more than 50 South Jersey medical and surgical practices agreed to pay $417,816 and improve data security practices to settle allegations it failed to properly protect the privacy of more … Continue Reading
A New Jersey appeals court recently ruled that a two-year statute of limitations applies to a claim by an HIV-positive patient asserting one of his doctors improperly disclosed his medical status to a third party without consent. The three-judge Appellate Division panel rejected arguments by the doctor that the suit should be dismissed as time-barred … Continue Reading
As we previously reported, sending a “friend” request to access information on an individual’s Facebook page that is not publicly available may have serious ethical implications. Specifically, the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) alleges John Robertelli and Gabriel Adamo violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, including those governing communications with represented parties, when they caused a paralegal to … Continue Reading
Last week, New Jersey’s Governor, Chris Christie (R), signed a bill which will allow telemarketing companies to make sales calls to mobile devices when the call is made to a customer with whom an existing relationship exists or in response to the customer’s written request. While many companies focus on complying with the Telephone Consumer … Continue Reading
The New Jersey Assembly on December 15 unanimously approved, by a vote of 75-0, a bill designed to better protect consumers from identify theft. Bill A3146, if approved by the Senate, would expand the state’s law to include disclosure of a breach of security of online accounts. Per the Identity Theft Resource Center, between 2005 … Continue Reading
As previously reported, in a March 2014 filing titled H.W. v. Sterling High School District, a New Jersey high school student filed suit claiming school officials had violated her constitutional rights when they punished her for content she posted on Twitter which criticized Sterling High School’s principal. The settlement, which was approved by the Sterling … Continue Reading
A New Jersey student has filed a federal court lawsuit, H.W. v. Sterling High School District, alleging that she has been subject to disability discrimination and that her First Amendment rights have been violated. The student, known only as H.W. in court papers, was banned from the prom, senior trip, and the school’s commencement ceremony following … Continue Reading
The Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District quashed an order requiring the mother of a vehicle accident victim to produce copies of certain postings on her Facebook account. In Root v. Balfour Beatty Constr., LLC, the plaintiff, Tonia Root (“plaintiff”) filed a negligence suit against the city and its contractors following an accident where her … Continue Reading
A New Jersey Appellate Court recently ruled that an employee who removes or copies her employer’s documents for use in her whistleblower or discrimination case may be prosecuted criminally for stealing. In State v. Saavedra, the employee had taken highly confidential original documents owned by her employer, contending that she did so to support her employment … Continue Reading
In a recent consent order, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs settled an investigation involving Dokogeo, Inc., a California based mobile application developer. Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) websites and online services which collect information from children younger than 13 are subject to certain parental notice and consent requirements. In the Dokogeo … Continue Reading
As we have previously anticipated, yesterday New Jersey joined the multitude of other states which have enacted laws limiting employer access to employee social media accounts. The law prohibits employers from requesting or requiring a current or prospective employee to provide or disclose any user name or password, or in any way provide the employer access to, … Continue Reading
New Jersey may become fourth state, following Maryland, Illinois and California, to place limits on employers' ability to access the social media accounts of employees and applicants.… Continue Reading
Two New Jersey defense lawyers face attorney ethics charges in connection with the way they allegedly accessed Facebook. Regardless of how these charges are resolved, the facts in the case should serve as a reminder to attorneys to become more familiar with social media, and perhaps be more specific in the direction they give to … Continue Reading
The District Court of New Jersey recently denied an employer’s motion to dismiss a former employee’s causes of action for invasion of privacy following a supervisor’s alleged unauthorized access to the employee’s Facebook account. In Ehling v. Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp., the plaintiff, a registered nurse and paramedic, alleged that the defendants engaged in a pattern … Continue Reading
In connection with its coverage of national signing day, ESPN.com recently highlighted that social media is increasingly being utilized by coaches to contact, recruit and gather information about players. For players, it’s a way to get recruited, control the message and interact with fans and other recruits at unprecedented levels. And, like in the workplace, misuse … Continue Reading
New Jersey notice and records maintenance requirements concerning records that must be maintained by employers under the wage and hour laws, prevailing wage act, unemployment law, temporary disability benefits law, family leave insurance benefits law, workers compensation law, and gross income tax law.… Continue Reading
The Maryland Senate recently referred Senate Bill 971 which prohibits Maryland employers from demanding that workers and job applicants turn over their passwords to specific websites or web-based accounts. Under the bill, employers would be prohibited from refusing to hire applicants and disciplining, terminating, or taking other adverse employment action against employees who refuse to provide their … Continue Reading
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
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 … Continue Reading
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, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South … Continue Reading
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 concerns relating … Continue Reading
