Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace

The Legislature has afforded former employers protection from liability for responses to police background investigations. Government Code section 1031.1 (b) provides, “in the absence of fraud or malice, no employer shall be subject to any liability for any relevant cause of action by virtue of releasing employment information required pursuant to this section.” 5. D UTY TO M AINTAIN B ACKGROUND C HECK I NFORMATION The EEOC requires institutions of higher education to preserve background information (application and other records) for two years after the record or an adverse action was taken, whichever is later, even if the person was not hired. 121 If a discrimination charge is filed, the records must be preserved until the case is concluded. The agency must use a secure method when disposing of the records. Effective January 1, 2018, the Immigration Worker Protection Act (AB 450) prohibits a public or private employer, or a person acting on behalf of the employer, from re-verifying the employment eligibility of a current employee at a time or in a manner not required by Section 1324a(b) of Title 8 of the United States Code, unless otherwise required by federal law. 122 An employer who violates this provision is subject to a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars, except that the act will not also form the basis for liability or penalty for violating Labor Code section 1019.1. 123 This prohibition concerning re-verification is not meant to be interpreted, construed, or applied to restrict or limit an employer’s compliance with a memorandum of understanding governing the use of the federal E-Verify system. 124 (See also Worksite Inspection of Personnel Files by Immigration Enforcement Agent, infra .) A. A PPLICABLE L AWS In addition to the United States Constitution and the California Constitution discussed above in Section 1 of this workbook, many of the privacy issues regarding medical testing and medical information arise under provisions protecting employees from federal and state disability discrimination laws. While the focus of anti-disability discrimination laws is to prevent disability discrimination, they also protect individual privacy rights concerning applicant and employee medical information. Thus, they not only restrict the use of information about a disability, but also restrict the solicitation of such information. Due to the highly sensitive nature of employee medical information, the disability laws also require employers to strictly maintain the confidentiality of medical information. Additionally, Congress and the California legislature have also enacted statutes governing the handling and disclosure of medical information. This section provides an overview of these laws. 6. R E -V ERIFYING E MPLOYMENT E LIGIBILITY S ECTION 3 M EDICAL T ESTING AND M EDICAL I NFORMATION

Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace ©2021 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 41