Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Brief of Confidentiality

My employer has a company shared folder that eveyone with a computer has access too. I was in the folder under hr looking for job descriptions and I came across a file title 401K-being that its company shared I clicked onto it and I found everyone that works for the comp soc sec num & their pay.I called my two co workers over and asked it that was suppose to be there.They both said no.I kept the file open looking for a supv but could not find 1 so I exited the program & me & my coworker went to tell HR. The next day me & her were called in office & told this was not a discussion & we were fired. 3 of us viewed file but only 2 (black girl and hispanic girl). got fired.We were told that if we told anyone what info we seen they would file fed charges against us. My question -is this right?Can't we file something against them being that our soc sec number were on a public accessible folder that could have been viewed by anyone with a computer at their desk. On unemployment claim employer put file was ''mistakingly put in wrong place.''Please advise thanks


Asked on 6/18/05, 3:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kelly Henderson

Re: Brief of Confidentiality

First, I do not believe there are any "federal charges" this company can bring against you. Second, unless you violated some written company policy by being on that computer and viewing that file, I would think you have a good chance of getting unemployment. Third, if only the black and hispanic were fired then some might suspect your termination was based, in part, on your race or national origin, and that would be illegal. With only the few facts you provided I cannot provide a complete answer and so I suggest you discuss this matter in detail with an employment lawyer in your area.

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Answered on 6/19/05, 5:12 am


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