Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Labor & Employment Law Blogs -> New York Public Personnel Law

Labor & Employment Law

: New York Public Personnel Law

Employee privacy in texting case to be decided by US Supreme Court

Employee privacy in texting case to be decided by US Supreme Court

Source: Posted on the Internet in CCH Workday [ http://www.employmentlawdaily.com/ ] Reproduced with permission. Copyright© CCH 2010, All rights reserved.*

On December 14, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether or not a public employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages sent to and from his work-issued pager that were stored in the server system of a third-party service provider (City of Ontario v Quon, Dkt No 08-1332). The case is currently pending before the Court. In the meantime, it is worth considering the potential implications of Supreme Court action.

A third-party service provider contracted with the city of Ontario, California, to provide wireless text-messaging services using pagers. The city distributed the pagers to its employees, including the police department of which the employee was a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. While it had no policy explicitly addressing text-messaging using pagers, the city did have a general ?Computer Usage, Internet, and E-mail Policy,? which stated that use of those devices was limited to city business only and that employees were to have no expectation of privacy when using those devices. City employees also signed an acknowledgment to that effect.

As part of an overage audit, the employer read transcripts of the messages sent by the employee from his work-issued pager, and determined that many of the messages were personal (and even sexually explicit) in nature. After learning that their messages were read by their employer, the officer and the officers he texted sued the city for violating their privacy rights.

As it currently stands, the law allows employers to adopt lawful policies relating to computer, Internet, and e-mail use to protect the assets and reputation of a business, ensure employee productivity, and guarantee compliance with corporate policies. Employers may enforce such policies by disciplining an employee who violates the policy.

* From an Interview conducted by CCH, a Wolters Kluwer company, of Joseph Poluka, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Blank Rome LLP, and Michelle Gitlitz Courtney, 1 Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103; telephone: 215-569-5500 (www.blankrome.com).

The full text of the article is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.employmentlawdaily.com/index.php/news/expert-discusses-implications-for-employee-privacy-in-texting-case-before-supreme-court/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CCH-Workday+%28CCH+WorkDay%29

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on June 04, 2010 (boomark / email).