2002-06-26 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . Case example: Watkins v. L.M. Berry & Co., 704 F.2d 577 (11th Cir.1983) An employer had a policy of monitoring solicitation calls as part of its regular training program. However, employees were permitted to make personal calls on company telephones and were told that their personal calls would not be monitored except to the extent necessary to determine whether a particular call was of a personal or business nature. An employee received a call from a friend during her lunch hour. During the conversation the employee discussed a job interview she had recently attended. The employer confronted the employee regarding the phone call. The employee sued claiming the employer violated the ECP A. The court rejected the employer's argument that the employee had consented to the monitoring by using the company's telephones and knowing that the employer had the capability to monitor phone conversations. The court reasoned that in order to use the consent exception to the ECP A an employer must show that an employee actually consented to the type of monitoring that took place. Reducing the risk of liability for employer monitoring Cities can attempt to reduce the risk of liability for monitoring by adopting a policy relating to employee use of technology and the Internet. A well-drafted policy can eliminate employee expectation of privacy in the use of technology and the Internet and can serve as evidence of employee consent to employer monitoring. There are several statements that a city might want to include in its policy. . State that the technology and Internet access is owned, paid for and maintained by the City. . Limit the use of technology and the Internet to business purposes (you may want to make certain exceptions for limited personal use). . State that the use of passwords by employees does not make any files protected by passwords private. Passwords must be disclosed to supervisors upon request and may be bypassed by technology staff if determined necessary by the City. . State that the City will monitor employee e-mail, computer files and Internet use as it determines necessary and may disclose information from these sources to third parties without providing notice to employees. B. Harassment Employee use of e-mail and the Internet may give rise to claims of harassment from other employees or third parties. For example, harassment claims could occur when: . An employee sends an e-mail message containing racist or sexist comments to other employees. 3 L___