Privacy › Labor & Employment Law › Constitutional Law

Quick Hits: From I-9s to Workplace Surveillance

The Connecticut Law Tribune’s quarterly supplement on Labor & Employment Law was published this week and as usual, it is chock full of articles of relevance to attorneys and employers. ...more

Fenwick Employment Brief - May 2013

The NLRB's controversial requirement that employers post notices informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (as reported in our January and May 2012 FEBs) has been held unconstitutional by the...more

Law Mandates CalPERS/CalSTRS Support For Shareholder Resolutions Supporting Religious Minorities

In 1999, the legislature enacted SB 105 (Burton) which obligates CalPERS and CalSTRS to support, whenever feasible, shareholder resolutions at domestic and international corporations in which those funds have invested that...more

Patton Boggs Insights - December 2012: Litigation/Courts: MSHA Medical Records Demand Raises Constitutional Issues

MSHA’s demand in 2010 for mine operators to disclose confidential medical and business records led to a court challenge alleging that it violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against warrantless search and seizure as well...more

Federal Courts Continue Grappling With Privacy Issues And Employee Communications

The federal courts continue to evaluate an employee's right to privacy and an employer's right to monitor employee communications and terminate employees based on those communications, whether under common law, statute or the...more

Alberta Privacy Law Decision to be Reviewed by the Supreme Court of Canada

On October 25, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal that narrowed the application of privacy laws in Alberta. In United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v...more

Records of Potential Off-the-Clock Work Violations: GPS Tracking Devices

Along with the ubiquitous nature of smart phones, employers are increasingly using GPS technology to track company vehicles to determine if employees working on remote job sites are where they are supposed to be and to locate...more

Constitutionality of Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act Heading to Supreme Court of Canada

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal from a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal declaring the application of Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act to certain union activities during a strike...more

Supreme Court of Canada Decision Demonstrates the Importance of Workplace Computer Policies

In R. v. Cole, 2012 SCC 53, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it was unconstitutional for the police to search the workplace computer of a high school teacher without a warrant. The Supreme Court held...more

Federal Court Suggests Connecticut Constitution Protects Private Employee Speech

Earlier this summer, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued two decisions that held that the free speech protections in Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 31-51q were limited by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos. To...more

Click With Caution: What Employers Should Know Before Conducting Social Media Background Checks on Prospective Employees

With the proliferation of social media sites such as blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and their increasing prominence in the business realm, it is not surprising that employers have begun to access the information posted on...more

Socially Aware: The Social Media Law Update -- Vol. 3, Issue 3 -- June 2012

In This Issue: Lawmakers Rush to Ban Employers From Demanding Facebook Passwords; California Provides Social Media Guidance for Financial Institutions; What’s Not to "Like"? Facebook Usage and the First Amendment; New...more

No Expectation of Privacy in Emails Sent Over Employer's Email Account, Massachusetts Court Decides

Does an employer invade an employee’s privacy by accessing and reviewing the employee’s email? A recent Massachusetts Superior Court decision, Falmouth Firefighters Union v. Town of Falmouth, answers “no.” ...more

Employee Privacy On Work Computers To Be Decided By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in R. v. Cole, 2011 ONCA 218. Mr. Cole, a teacher, was charged with possession of child pornography and unauthorized use of a...more

GPS in the Workplace

Earlier this year in United States v. Jones, the United State Supreme Court addressed the privacy implications of Global Positioning Systems (“GPS”), holding that placing a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s car was a...more

Random Alcohol Testing Case Headed for Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether an employer must have “reasonable cause” to conduct random alcohol testing on unionized employees, or whether an inherently dangerous workplace is sufficient to justify random...more

Supreme Court: Temporary Government Employee Is Entitled To Same Immunity From Lawsuits As Full-Time Public Workers

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 17, 2012 that a private employee working for a governmental body is entitled to the same qualified immunity as full-time public employees. Filarsky v....more

United States v. Hamilton

Brief of Amicus Curiae Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) In Support of Appellant And Urging Reversal

EPIC has filed an amicus brief in United States v. Hamilton, urging the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold employee privacy interests in personal e-mails. The Government contends that it may obtain private emails from...more

eWorkplace Policies – Social-Media, Privacy & Internet-Security

Traditional concerns for employers have included: harassing or other discriminatory actions; other conduct leading to liability to third-parties; forbidden fraternizing; criminal activity; “frolic and detour” or other...more

Are New Jersey Employers Allowed to Ask for Access to a Job Applicant's Facebook Account

Are New Jersey Employers Allowed to Ask for Access to a Job Applicant's Facebook Account? A recent and disturbing trend is developing, as employers are increasingly demanding that job applicants provide their personal...more

Compromise Agreements, Andy Coulson, and Confidentiality Clauses

Tom Watson (UK Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East) has recently written to Mr. Peter Wardle, the Chief Executive of the Electoral Standards Commission asking him to investigate potential breaches of the Political...more

Child Porn Found In the Workplace: Affirmative Duty to Report

Misbehaving by sending inappropriate text messages, or by striking up inappropriate internet relationships is not limited just to politicians. A hazard of our ever-present connection to the internet is the flood of...more

Where Are the Lines in Employee Surveillance?

A reader asks: I have had theft of trade secrets in my office. Can I install video cameras or other surveillance measures to view the activities of my employees? Answer: While spying on your employees happens all the...more

Court Compels Production of Personal Emails from Company Systems Citing Lack of Reasonable Privacy Expectation

On May 23, in SEC v. Reserve Management Co. Inc.,1 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that an employee does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to communications with a...more

California Employment Law Update

State Limitations On Arbitration Agreements Are Preempted By Federal Law Employee Who Complained Orally About FLSA Violation Is Protected From Retaliation Employee With Bipolar Disorder Who Threatened Co-Workers Was Not...more