Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New York

Searching employees in a private school

Is it legal to search an employee's personal belongings in a private school? i work at a school for teens. the students are here year round and are exposed to a structured environment. we want to prevent the students from getting their hands on anything that they should not have as part of their program ie)cigarettes, lighters, prescription medications, OTC drugs or even street drugs. what rights does an employer have to search an employee? and what rights does the employee have in regards to personal property?


Asked on 8/03/05, 2:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Loeb Law Office of Stephen R. Loeb

Re: Searching employees in a private school

In a private school, assuming the employee is not a member of a union, and does not have a contract relating to the issue and assuming the school does not have a published employment policy relating to privacy, an employee may opt not to consent to a search, but if he does so an employer has a right to terminate the employee's employment. In other words, one of the detriments of a private school setting is that an employee loses the Constitutional protection against unreasonable searchesand is subject to the private employer's policies and discretion.

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Answered on 8/03/05, 2:38 pm


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