FourthAmendment.com alerts us to this workplace-related case: An elementary school teacher who showed up at work with the smell of alcohol about her person was reasonable suspicion not probable cause. Under the reasonableness special needs standard, a Breathalyzer test was reasonable because elementary school teachers have a reduced expectation of privacy at work. Read more…
Category: Workplace
Ca: Baumgartner case sharpens debate over online privacy and the workplace
The Canadian Press reports that a case in Canada is highlighting the controversy over whether employers can – and perhaps, should – keep track of employees’ online postings or activity. Days before three armed guards were killed and a fourth wounded as they delivered cash to the University of Alberta, a controversial posting appeared on…
UK: Workers to be tracked by satellite device
Samantha Pope reports: Gardeners and street cleaners working for North Somerset Council will have their moves traced by a tracking device to ensure they carry out the tasks they are given. When a new contracts comes into place next year, the unitary authority plans to install satellite tracking equipment on vehicles and plant machinery used…
N.J. Federal Court: Privacy Claim Based on Coerced Access to Employee’s Facebook Posts May Proceed
Michael Beder writes: A federal district court in New Jersey ruled this week that an employer might have invaded an employee’s common-law privacy rights by coercing a co-worker into giving the employer access to the employee’s Facebook profile. The plaintiff, a nurse and paramedic employed by a non-profit hospital service corporation, alleges that her supervisor forced a…