Legal News

Supreme Court to hear Ontario texting case

By Richard Binder

The Supreme Court agreed today to hear an appeal from the police department in Ontario, California, that was successfully sued by Sgt. Jeff Quon and three other officers after their text messages -- some of which were sexually explicit -- were read by the police chief.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the police officers had a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their text messages. The officers had been led to believe by a supervisor, the appeals court said, that the devices were also for personal use.

A Supreme Court ruling on the issue could set new rules for the workplace at a time when most employees use computers, cellphones or texting devices as part of their job. City officials in Ontario said they had told their employees, including the police officers, that they did not have a guarantee of privacy when using city-supplied texting devices.

The high court said it would hear arguments in the case in the spring and issue a decision by the end of June.

Full story at LATimes.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on December 14, 2009 (boomark / email).