Source: https://astanehelaw.com/employee-rights/employee-privacy/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 06:38:41+00:00

Document:
The increasingly digital nature of modern society has positioned the right to privacy as our most collectively treasured and vital rights. Privacy is a particularly critical aspect of the employer-employee relationship. California employees value their confidential information and freedom from defamation and privacy invasion. The law values privacy, too. To that end, employers who violate their employees’ privacy rights reveal themselves to legal exposure to civil liability.
Astanehe Law assists aggrieved employees who have suffered an invasion of privacy, defamation, appropriation, false light violations, and other similar privacy violations by employers or former employers. Don’t let your employer or former employer destroy your privacy right, contact Astanehe Law for your free consultation.
The law recognizes an employee’s protected interest in reputation by imposing employer-liability for defamation. Defamation consists of the publication of false statements that create ridicule, hatred, contempt, or criticism.
California recognizes two types of defamation, libel or slander. Libel involves written publications, while slander requires speech.
The employee’s reputation was damaged.
To prevail on a claim, an employee typically need only prove that the employer negligently made the defamatory statement.
Employees have one year from the date of discovery of the last defamatory statement to file a defamation claim. California Code of Civil Procedure § 340(c); Manguso v. Oceanside Unified School Dist., 153 Cal. App. 3d 574, 578-579 (1984). Each employer republication of a defamatory statement gives rise to a new cause of action for statute of limitation purposes. Shively v. Bozanich, 31 Cal. 4th 1230, 1245 (2003).
In California, furnishing false and defamatory statements about a former employer carries criminal liability. California Labor Code § 1050. Further, aggrieved employees can obtain triple damages. California Labor Code § 1054.
If your former employer or manager made defamatory statements or writings about you, contact Astanehe Law for your free legal consultation. Astanehe Law may be able to provide contingency representation, and you will not pay upfront legal fees. Don’t let your former employer continue bullying you, take immediate legal action!
Although employees relinquish some of their privacy rights to employers during the application process and employment, employees still retain numerous privacy rights. Employee privacy protections seek to safeguard employee speech, beliefs, association, lifestyle, and personal information. Where an employer’s action violates these safeguards, the employee may enforce their privacy right in a civil suit based, often based on a Tort theory.
Employees commonly assert four types of privacy Torts: (i) Intrusion upon seclusion; (ii) Appropriation of name and likeness; (iii) Publicity given to private life; and, (iv) False light publicity.
An employee that suffers a false light privacy violation can recover emotional distress damages and damages for the loss or harm to their reputation in the business community.
Resulting injury. Slivinsky v. Watkins-Johnson Co., 221 Cal. App. 3d 799, 807 (1990).
An employer who uses a former employee’s picture online for commercial purposes may violate this tort. However, the employer insulates itself from liability where the employee consents to use their name or likeness in writing. California Civil Code § 3344(a).
An aggrieved employee can recover emotional distress damages, and damages for the loss or harm of their reputation. Additionally, the employee may be able to recover for the loss of commercial value to their name or likeness.
An employer’s disclosing of employment information that is highly offensive and is not of public concern establishes liability under publicity given to private life, which is also commonly referred to as public disclosure of private facts. The employer must publish the information publicly, but the information need not be accurate.
The private fact is not the public’s concern. Shulman v. Group W Productions, Inc., 18 Cal. 4th 200, 214 (1998).
Intrusion upon seclusion involves the offensive, intentional, and unauthorized invasion of an employee’s private affairs where a reasonable privacy expectation exists, even where the employer does not publicize the collected information. Further, the intrusion must cause mental anguish or suffering. An example of intrusion upon seclusion occurs when a manager uses a workplace computer to access an employee’s personal bank account information multiple times, even where the intrusion is not published or results in any financial loss.
Under the California Constitution, the right to privacy is an inalienable right guaranteed to Californians. California Constitution, Article 1, § 1. Since its passage by voters in 1972, California citizens have had enforceable privacy rights against private entities, including private sector employers. Bd. Of Trs. Of Leland Stanford Jr. Univ. v. Super. Ct. of Santa Clara, 119 Cal. App. 3d 516 (Cal. Ct. App. 1981). However, since the California Constitution does not define, explain, or specify the scope of the right, aggrieved employees often need the assistance of counsel to bring a claim for invasion of privacy under the California Constitution. Contact Astanehe Law for trusted assistance today!
The employer’s conduct constituted a serious privacy invasion. Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn., 7 Cal. 4th 1 (1994).
An employee may be able to recover punitive damages for an invasion of privacy where the employer acted with malice, wantonness, or willfulness. California Civil Code §§ 3294, 3344; Cyrus v. Haveson, 65 Cal. App. 3d 306, 316-317 (1976); Spinks v. Equity Residential Briarwood Apartments, 171 Cal. App. 4th 1004, 1055 (2009).
The right to be left alone is one of the most treasured rights provided for in the California Constitution. If your employer or former employer has invaded your privacy, contact Astanehe Law today for your free consultation.
With Astanehe Law on your side, you are poised to obtain the maximum recovery possible. Call today for your free consultation!

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