Which of the following is most likely to provide privacy protection to private-sector employees in the United States?
Which of the following is most likely to provide privacy protection to private-sector employees in the United States?
State law, contract law, and tort law are most likely to provide privacy protection to private-sector employees in the United States. Federal and constitutional protections generally apply to public-sector employees rather than those in the private sector. State laws can vary, but many states have statutes protecting employee privacy. Contract law allows employees to negotiate privacy policies as part of their employment agreements, and tort law provides recourse for invasion of privacy claims through doctrines such as intrusion upon seclusion, publicity given to private life, and defamation.
A contract Law can alter the rules between employer and employee. An individual employee, for instance, might negotiate a contract that says that certain private activities are outside the scope of the employment relationship. Turning to tort law, at least three common-law torts can be relevant to employee privacy. First is the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion,” which states: “One who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy A second tort claim can be “publicity given to private life,” which states: “One who gives publicity to a matter concerning the private life of another is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, A third tort claim is for defamation, which focuses on a false or defamatory statement. The common law supplies some possible protections for employees.
Constitutional Law The U.S. Constitution has significant workplace privacy provisions that apply to the federal and state governments, but they do not affect private-sector employment. Notably, the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by state actors. Courts have interpreted this amendment to place limits on the ability of government employers to search employees’ private spaces, such as lockers and desks. In general for private-sector actors, however, there is no state action, and “no constitutional law governs employment privacy”