Supreme Court: Employer Can Read Employees’ Text Messages

Supreme Court:  Employer Can Read Employees’ Text Messages  By: Michael J. Ernst, Partner In a unanimous ruling on June 17, 2010, the United States Supreme Court ruled that an employer did not violate an employee’s constitutional privacy rights by searching the personal text messages (many of which were sexually explicit) that he sent and received on his employer-issued pager. The so-called “sexy texts case� resulted after a police chief in Ontario, California, was taken to court after a SWAT team officer learned his boss had read thousands of messages that the officer had sent to his wife and mistress.  The officer and three others sued the department and the city despite signing a city policy that allows only limited personal use of employer-owned electronic equipment and that warns them not to expect any privacy in use of the devices.  The High Court held that employers have the right to check in on employees, and “because it was not excessive in scope, the search was reasonable.� It is important to note that the employer was able to conduct this search because it had a “Computer Usage, Internet and E-Mail Policy� that specified that employees had no expectation of privacy or confidentiality when using computers, e-mail, or the Internet.  The employer had clarified that the policy also applied to pager text messages. Stokes Lazarus & Carmichael LLP has represented companies in employment matters for over 30 years.  SLC provides sound legal advice at reasonable fees nationwide.  Both the author and the firm are rated “AV^®� and “Preeminent^TM� (5.0 out of 5.0) by Martindale-Hubbell^® (the highest rating given), which reflects “Preeminent� legal ability and “Very High� general ethical standards.  If you have any questions regarding employment issues generally or technology usage policies specifically, please contact Michael J. Ernst at mje@slclaw.com or 404-352-1465 ext. 41.