Its prudent to to the USA workplace with the belief and mindset that everything you do is under constant surveillance.

1. PRIVACY IN THE USA WORKPLACE
( PERSONAL POSSESSIONS, ELECTRONIC FOOTPRINTS, AND EMAIL)
David F Amakobe
BADM840-1603C-01 Business Legal and Ethical Environment
Professor Michael Alexander, PhD
27 October 2016

2. Introduction – Citizens’ Privacy
 The source law for U.S Citizens’ right to
privacy is the 4th Amendment of the
U.S Constitution (Gray & Citron, 2013)
 Guarantees the right of the people to
be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures

3. Introduction – Citizens’ Privacy
continued
 Unless there be a probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation, and describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized (“US. Constitution -
Fourth Amendment ", 2016)
 Privacy rights only triggered when there is an
established reasonable expectation of privacy,
and the searches are unreasonable (Gray &
Citron, 2013; Kim, 2012; Renan et al., 2016)

4. Introduction - Workplace
 No expectation of physical privacy in public spaces, workplaces
or infrastructure like roads and public buildings (Gray &
Citron, 2013)
 Public policy concerns may override individual privacy rights to
bodily integrity, avoiding intrusion on physical spaces,
protection against the searches and or seizure of personal
items, prevention of disclosure of personal information and
assurance of individual autonomy (Chen & Marceau, 2015;
Gray & Citron, 2013; Kim, 2012)

5. Workplace Privacy – Personal Property
 Public policy concerns place upon all
employers the responsibility to provide a
healthy and safe work environment (Kim,
2012; Volokh, 2014).
 The Leaders’ duty of care requires
organizations to ensure the safety and
proper use of assets (Volokh, 2014)
 Tort law place pressure employers into
more investigation of employees’, lives
(Volokh, 2014)

6. Workplace Privacy – Personal Property
Employers who are pressured to put
up surveillance cameras since they
can comply with that duty without
incurring a substantial risk of liability for
invasion of privacy (Volokh, 2014).
Personal belongings may be
searched, and persons may be
examined for safety and security
(Volokh, 2014)

7. Workplace Privacy – Electronic Footprint
The workspaces may be under
constant surveillance and observation
(Chen & Marceau, 2015; Kim, 2012;
Renan et al., 2016)
When employees go to work, they
knowingly expose themselves to public
observation and therefore waive their
right to dressed up real privacy (Gray
& Citron, 2013)

8. Workplace Privacy – Electronic Footprint
 Employees have reasonable expectations of
privacy with private password protected web
based personal email accounts if Corporate
policies permits reasonable personal use of
the equipment especially when a public policy
concern is involved
 The reasonable expectation of privacy is
diminished if the organizations policy
forbids personal use of both equipment and
system (Gray & Citron, 2013).

9. Workplace Privacy – Email
 Once an employee communicates any information
to a second person over corporate e-mail system
any reasonable expectation of privacy is lost
(Halbert & Ingulli, 2015)
 An Organization’s interest in preventing illegal
activity over its e-mail system outweighs any
privacy interest the employee may have a claim to
(Halbert & Ingulli, 2015)
 The common-law tort of intrusion may apply if the
organization were to have forensic experts retrieve or
reconstruct the web files or automatically
achieved data (Kim, 2012).

10. Summary
 Federal privacy standards in workplaces are
informed by the Fourth Amendment and U.S
Supreme Court rulings ("U.S. Constitution - Fourth
Amendment ", 2016)
 The Right to Privacy is conditional and
subordinate to the rights of others
 In public places and workplaces the duty of
leaders to provide security and safety overrides
individual right to privacy
 The government may claim probable cause,
obtain a warrant and carry out a search and or
seizure or third party doctrine to obtain
information

11. Recommendations - Surveillance
All Employees shall assume
that they are under constant
Surveillance and
observation in everything
they do in their work place
and work systems

12. Recommendations – Corporate Policies
All Employees should
familiarize themselves with
corporate policies as is
written and presented to
them in the employee
handbook whatever level
they may be in the company.

13. Conclusion - Tort Law Unburden some
As technology becomes more
invasive, surveillance and
observation becomes un-
burdensomely cheap, and
record keeping capacity
increases REASONABLE
expectation of privacy
DECREASES

14. Conclusion
Truth be told, if you do not
want something shown or
told on the Newspaper
headline or Cable News, do
say it, don’t sent it, don’t
record it!

15. References
Chen, A. K., & Marceau, J. (2015). High Value Lies, Ugly Truths, and the First
Amendment. Vanderbilt Law Review, 68(6), 1435-1507.
Gray, D. C., & Citron, D. K. (2013). A SHATTERED LOOKING GLASS:
THE PITFALLS AND POTENTIAL OF THE MOSAIC THEORY OF
FOURTH AMENDMENT PRIVACY
North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology, 14(2), 381-430.
Halbert, T., & Ingulli, E. (2015). Law and Ethics in the Business Enviroment:
Cengage Learning.
Kim, P. T. (2012). Electronic Policy and Employee Speech. Chicago-Kent Law
Review, 87(3).
Renan, D., Andrias, K., Baer, M., Barkow, R., Bulman-Pozen, J., Cox, A., . . .
Zittrain, J. (2016). The Fourth Amendment as Administrative Governance.
Stanford Law Review, 68(5), 1039-1129.
Schlabach, G. R. (2015). PRIVACY IN THE CLOUD: THE MOSAIC
THEORY AND THE STORED COMMUNICATIONS ACT. Stanford
Law Review, 67(3), 677-721.
U.S. Constitution - Fourth Amendment (2016, October 24). Retrieved from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment
Volokh, E. (2014). TORT LAW VS. PRIVACY. Columbia Law Review, 114(4),
879-948.

16. Professor's Commentary
Total points earned (rounded): 100 out of 100 (100%).
Task Requirements points earned: 25 out of 25 (100%).
Demonstration and application of knowledge points
earned: 55 out of 55 (100%).
Academic writing and format points earned: 20 out of
20 (100%).
Strengths: You provided a good presentation on
workplace privacy. I liked you section giving
information and usage of personal email. This is an
area where most questions arise, how can I use my
personal networks.
Opportunities for improvement: None at this time.
Additional Comments: You provided a good discussion
on workplace privacy standards. You had some
interesting material of how this topic evolved. Your
opinion was well expressed and presented a viable
alternative