Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

I have worked for the past 16 years for a rural telephone company in upstate New York. I am in a customer service capacity and have access to all customer accounts. These accounts contain billing & physical address, social security #, date of birth and credit history information. I am not only an employee of the company I am also a customer. Since this is a small town everyone know's everyone else's business. If they don't, they do their best to find out. I purchased a home in August and due to past harrasment issues (some with other employees) I felt it in my best interest to keep the information to myself and not tell anyone I worked with. I previously lived in an apartment complex which many coworkers knew, some even live there. After I moved I was approached by a fellow coworker who questioned me regarding a resident of the apartment complex. I advised her that I no longer lived there at which time she asked me when & where I moved to. I was very "point blank" with her and advised "I am not telling anyone where I live. It's no one's business". She apparently felt I was wrong about this and began digging around to find out where I lived. 2 coworkers in my department then accessed my private non published telephone account to attain the information. The system stamps the name, date and time of each individual who has accessed a customer's account. It's all there. In black and white. I feel violated by these people and I am livid that these people invaded my privacy. I have brought the issue to my supervisor and our human resources manager but have not had much luck in resolving past issues using this route. Things tend to get brushed under the rug. I feel the guilty parties will not get much more than a slap on the wrist. Do I have any rights here?


Asked on 2/06/10, 11:31 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Elizabeth Karnazes New York Offices of Elizabeth Karnazes

you can sue, but what damage have you suffered? just document everything Please, forgive my typos (painful hands). Good luck!

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Answered on 2/12/10, 1:16 pm


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