HCBE Faculty Articles
The Intentional Tort of Invasion of Privacy in the Private Employment Sector: Legal Analysis and Recommendations for Managers
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
International Journal of Business and Law Research
ISSN
2360-8986
Publication Date
2016
Abstract/Excerpt
The modern workplace requires that employers have access to a great deal of information about their worker, customers and suppliers for legitimate reasons. As such, employers must protect their access to all this information in order to protect themselves from any legal liability. This article focuses on employment and privacy law by examining the common law intentional tort of invasion of privacy in the private sector workplace. While employers can have good reasons as well as the legal right to engage in monitoring, searching, and surveillance of their employees that legal latitude is not without bounds. “Reasonableness” is a key factor in this legal analysis as it is with much of tort law. The authors stress that surveillance, searching, and monitoring policies must be not only legal, but also fair, dignified and respectful to the employees. In addition to avoiding legal liability acting in such a legal and ethical manner is in the long-term interest of the employer in attracting and maintaining high quality employees as well as to achieving and maintaining a good reputation with clients, customers, shareholders, the community, and the legal system. Suggestions and recommendations are provided for managers and employers.
Volume
4
Issue
3
First Page
37
Last Page
57
NSUWorks Citation
Cavico, Frank J. and Mujtaba, Bahaudin G., "The Intentional Tort of Invasion of Privacy in the Private Employment Sector: Legal Analysis and Recommendations for Managers" (2016). HCBE Faculty Articles. 563.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcbe_facarticles/563
