Big boss is watching

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Once again, you are wrong.

An employer cannot monitor the restroom "just to monitor" it, particularly without notifying employees. If you tried that, and one of your employees found out, then you're opening yourself to a huge can of worms for liability.

Once again, you've tried to twist the meaning of a post by bringing up an atypical case.

An employer MAY monitor an employee's activity WITH cause-- if someone has complained about sexual harassment, like in your example, then the employer does have the right to see what the employee is doing. (And if the employer doesn't, then the employer might be liable.) If the employer was notified that someone was stealing company assets using the restroom, then the employer can monitor to discover the theft. If the employer notices someone was tampering with the smoke detector to smoke in the restroom, then the employer can monitor.

But most employers simply cannot monitor the restroom on the off chance the monitoring catches something, and certainly without notification. Some employers do-- for example, the courts have ruled that there's no expectation of privacy anywhere in a jail (no matter if you're an inmate or part of the staff).

The *courts* (not me) have consistently use "reasonable expectation of privacy", which is balanced by the employer's need for supervision and control. You generally don't have an expectation of privacy when in areas in open view, which is much of company grounds. But the restroom and dressing room IS one area where you have every right to expect no one is monitoring you. And even if the employer notifies you that they monitor a restroom, it is still a reasonable expectation that you're not going to be monitored while using your individual stall.

If you're engaged in illegal activities, then you're not going to be off the hook by the argument of "invasion of privacy". An illegal activity is something that the employer has every right to look for, so you have no expectation of privacy. But illegal activity (including sexual harassment) is an unusual situation, NOT the usual situation.

Cheers!

Posted by: Root User   Posted on: 09/24/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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