Legal Question in Discrimination Law in California
Hi I was wondering if my situation could be a privacy violation?
Here is what happened: I was called into a private meeting this morning at my workplace with the chief medical office (I am a doctor) and chief executive officer of the company. It was said they investigated several people and found that my internet usage and several others were higher than average and we have been using the internet for non-business related purposes, which is against policy. They described that people have been using sites such as social networking, sports, adult websites and the like, which are not permitted.
The issue I have is that they were meeting with several people individually that same morning and when I arrived they said Dr. X (can't use real name) is still in the meeting with them so they were not ready. From this I logically concluded that Dr. X was also overusing the internet and using it for non-business purposes. Additionally, unlike Dr. X, I am normally not scheduled to be in the workplace on Tuesdays so other people can logically conclude that I was there for the meeting for using non-business related websites or social networking and the like.
So eventhrough the meeting itself was private, is my privacy violated since people can deduce the reason I was there and the reason I was in the meeting?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You have no privacy rights in that situation. They could have posted your names in the doctor's lounge, or even the lobby if they wanted to, at least from a legal standpoint. Poor management is not legally actionable.
Most organizations now have employee internet use policies. Some are well thought-out and implemented and some are not. A well thought-out policy is based on protecting the company from employee time theft, and from risks such as sex-harassment lawsuits (for example if the company tolerated surfing for porn). Mindlessly prohibiting all non-business related internet use is, well, mindless. I would certainly ask for a copy of their acceptable use policy if they did not already give you a copy. I don't think they invaded your privacy, because it is speculative to infer both 1) that other Tuesday office visitors knew you were there to be counseled over your computer use; and 2) the unauthorized use was something bad or shameful. Number 2 certainly does not hold up. For all anybody knows you were written up for checking your stocks at Charles Schwab. Only you and your attorney know the real websites you were caught visiting.
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