The big news of the week is the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal in Quon v. Arch Wireless. The issue in that case is whether a police officer had an expectation of privacy in text messages sent from his employer-owned mobile device. The court of appeals ruled for the employee earlier this year. While this case involves the constitutional privacy rights of public employees, I hold out a glimmer of hope that the Supremes will give broader insight into the rights of all employers to keep tabs on how employees are using their technology while on-the-clock. My fellow bloggers share their thoughts on this very interesting case:
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Dennis Westlind at World of Work: Supreme Court to Review Text Message Case; Primarily of Interest to Public Employers.
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Michael Fox’s Jottings By An Employer’s Lawyer: Labor and Employment Comes (Slowly?) Into the Electronic World.
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Washington DC Employment Law Update: Supreme Court Review of Quon May Provide Important Guidance for Private Employers.
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Philip Miles’s Lawffice Space: Text Message Privacy Hits SCOTUS.
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Workplace Privacy Counsel: Supreme Court Review of Quon May Provide Important Guidance for Private Employers.
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Colorado Employment Law: Supreme Court to Review Employee Privacy in Text Messages.
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Ross Runkel’s LawMemo: Text message privacy at the Supreme Court.
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Jeffrey Hirsch at the Workplace Prof Blog: Supreme Court Grants Cert in Quon Privacy Case.
On to other news of the week.
Employee Terminations
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How NOT to Call in Sick – via Mark Toth’s Manpower Employment Blawg.
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It’s NOT Just a Fantasy: Company Fires Employees for Running Fantasy Football League, For Real – from Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law.
Wage & Hour
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Lawyers See Easy Money in Wage-and-Hour Litigation – at the HR Daily Advisor.
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Just Because an Employee is Exempt Doesn't Mean They Can't Be Paid Extra – via Overtime Advisor.
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US DOL Finds 4000 Nurses at SSM Health Center Owed One Million Dollars Over Missed Lunches – from Wage & Hour – Developments & Highlights.
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House-Approved Omnibus Spending Bill Would Significantly Boost Funding for DOL, NLRB, EEOC – by Washington DC Employment Law Update.
Discrimination
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Fight over passage of the ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) delayed until 2010 – via Sindy Warren at the Warren & Hays Blog.
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Attendance at work is an essential function of the job in most instances – from Employment Law Matters.
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EEOC Continues to Attack "No-Rehire" Policies – by New York Labor and Employment Law Report.
Social Media
- Too Much Information: Social Media Pose Risks For Employers And Employees Alike – from Hunton Labor & Employment Perspectives.
Harassment
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An Employer Cannot be an Ostrich in Response to Complaints – by Tom Crane’s San Antonio Employment Law Blog.
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$1,260,000 settles harassment claims – via Ross Runkel’s LawMemo.
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Weird Sexual Harassment Cases In the News – by Teresa Cheek at the Delaware Employment Law Blog.
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Harassment Is All About the Threshold – from Kris Dunn, The HR Capitalist.
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Why we should put filters on our work computers – via the Evil HR Lady.
Top 10…
- …Weirdest Work Stories for 2009 – linked by Minnesota Labor & Employment Law Blog.
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…Worst phrases to use at the office – from CNN.com.
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