If you are considering using video cameras or other surveillance in your workplace, state law might have something to say about it. There are many reasons you might want to use video cameras in your workplace – employee safety, insurance benefits, customer service quality assurance, to name a few. However, don’t forget that state law
Privacy
Don’t Run Prints: Illinois’s Biometric Privacy Law Used Against Employers
Does your company use fingerprinting or some facial recognition scanner as part of its clock-in, clock-out process? If your company has facilities or even some contacts with Illinois (and maybe other states in the future) you should pay heed to Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) that is the subject of a new class action…
Pandemic Planning: But What About the Other “P Word” in Your Re-opening Plans? (Hint: It’s Privacy)
We are two months into the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a handful of states are starting to ease restrictions. With relaxation of the rules, employers are developing plans to re-open and bring employees back to the workplace. As this flurry of planning takes place, the focus (rightfully so) will be on keeping employees…
New Year, New Hires: The California Consumer Privacy Act and Your Employees
It’s January 2020. Thousands of businesses just completed the mad dash to meet the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) requirements. Unfortunately, now is not the time to take a breather if you have employees in California or plan to hire any in the next two years.
CCPA and How it Applies
As a refresher, the…
You Don’t Get a Bite at the Big Dog: Texas Court Rules that Injured Worker Cannot Depose Company CEO
What if your employee plaintiff sues you and then demands to take the deposition of your company CEO or some other high-level corporate executive who has no personal knowledge about the facts of the case? No one would be excited about that prospect. Fortunately, a Texas appellate court recently ruled that high-level executives can be…
Tennessee’s New Social Media Law Gives Employers Dos and Don’ts Regarding Employee Privacy
All Tennessee employers and their agents must now comply with the “Employee Online Privacy Act of 2014,” a new law that prohibits employers from asking their employees for their usernames and passwords to social media sites, among other things. The law went into effect on January 1, 2015. Although it prohibits employers from…
Former JSU Women’s Basketball Coach Receives Additional Award in Wrongful Termination Suit
In August, a judge awarded former Jackson State University (JSU) head coach, Denise Taylor, $200,000 in damages for “emotional pain and suffering” she endured during her employment. Taylor was the head women’s basketball coach at JSU for 10 seasons before she was fired in 2011. She filed the lawsuit against the university on January 24,…