Can I sue my employer for invasion of privacy for embarrassment caused at work?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can I sue my employer for invasion of privacy for embarrassment caused at work?
I have been working in sales at a call center for over 3 years. Everyday my superiors gather in a room at a random time during the day and blind monitor calls taken by employees. At the end of the day one of them send a mass email to everyone letting them know who they listened to and how well or how poor their perception was of the call. Obviously some of the comments made are very embarrassing for some of the employees. What laws are there in place to protect employees for such embarrassment?
Asked on August 22, 2010 under Employment Labor Law, South Dakota
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately no. The expectation of privacy in the workplace is rather limited. Employers monitoring their employees is commonplace. Unless this behavior violates a stated company policy, employment contract, or even a union agreement of some kind, it is legal. The fact is that most employment relationships are "at will". This means that an employer can dictate terms and conditions of employment basically as they see fit. In turn, an employer has the "choice" of quitting. While this practice appears somewhat unprofessional and at times can be embarrassing for an employee, it does not violate the law.
Note: You could try and sue for defamation but that is notoriously difficult to prove.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The bad news, is there is NO law protecting employees from embarrassment generally. Indeed, there are no laws protecting anyone from embarrassment as a general matter.
However, the good news is, IF you are being defamed, you may have a cause of action. Defamation is the public (e.g. mass email) making of a false statement of fact which damages someone's reputation. The key is that it must be a false factual statement. So a true factual statement, even if hurtful, is not defamation. For example, if you failed to close 13 of 20 sales calls one day, and the email says that, that is not defamation. Saying you closed no calls, however, may be.
Also, opinions are not defamation. So if the email says, "John/Jane Doe is the worst telesales rep I've ever worked with," that's an opinion and not actionable. If it says "John/Jane Doe is on drugs, since that is the only possible explanation for his/her performance," that may be actionable, since that includes a factual assertion.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.