Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace

In contrast, a claim of intrusion upon seclusion does not involve a publication, but rather an unreasonable and highly offensive intrusion upon a person’s solitude or private life. 19 These types of claims can arise when an employer requires an individual to divulge information about himself or herself or when an employer conducts an investigation of an employee. To determine whether an intrusion is reasonable, the courts examine factors including whether the means used are abnormal and whether the purpose for intruding is proper.

Not all intrusions are improper. For example, no right of privacy exists for matters or things within the public domain or in places one typically expects others to be. 20

The final type of privacy tort is seldom, if ever, asserted in the employment relationship. It involves use of someone’s name or likeness for commercial purposes without his or her consent.

3. F EDERAL AND C ALIFORNIA S TATUTES There is also a vast array of statutes resulting from legislation passed by Congress and the California legislature that prohibit specific types of privacy intrusions and provide bases for recovery by employees, and, in some cases, government prosecutors. For example, Labor Code section 432.7 prohibits an employer from seeking or using arrest records of job applicants. Many of these statutes are discussed in more detail in the sections to which they apply below. 4. C ALIFORNIA P UBLIC S AFETY O FFICER ’ S P ROCEDURAL B ILL OF R IGHTS A CT The Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBR), Government Code section 3300, et seq ., specifies elements of procedural rights that must be accorded to public safety officers when they are subject to investigation or discipline. Employees subject to this Act include city police officers, county deputy sheriffs, state police and highway patrol officers, D.A. investigators, parole and probation officers, school district security officers, etc. While this Act falls under the category of California Statutes, it bears specific mentioning here because it governs many of the areas of right of privacy of public safety officers in their personnel relationship with employers. The Act is discussed throughout this workbook. While this workbook does not discuss these issues in depth, districts with police departments (as opposed to security officers) must be aware of these rights.

Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace ©2021 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 12