If I was on vacation and2 members of the board of directors went through my office without my knowledge, is that legal?

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If I was on vacation and2 members of the board of directors went through my office without my knowledge, is that legal?

I work at a private club. I notified my board president I was going on vacation a month ahead of time. During that period the chef took over. He had access to the office. The 2 board members came into the office without approval from either of us and being looking through filing cabinets and desk drawers. Can they do that legally? I don’t have anything to hide but I feel they took advantage of both of us and were looking for reasons to “fire” me.

Asked on November 22, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Tennessee

Answers:

MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

While there is usually no privacy expectation directly at work regarding things like computer and telephone use and the like, to go through desk drawers may actually have crossed the line into a privacy issue. The members of the board of directors are not your bosses directly, they have no business to come into your office without approval and go through non-business filing cabinets and desk drawers if these are not designated areas to hold office documents. Talk to a lawyer if you wish but you need to understand that even if the lawyer agrees your privacy was violated, I am unsure as to your actual damages. Further, you need hard evidence that these particular individuals did this.


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