My employer has me under surveillance - is this legal? 07-07-2005

I work for a government facility. It was recently brought to my attention by fellow employees that my employer has been monitoring my home personal computer online activities through the use of a former IT staff member. I have discussed this matter with my department director and the HR director. They have denied involvement, but my sources indicate they are in fact aware and involved. When I heard of this, I intentionally began going to a variety of porn/SM sites and chat rooms to test my privacy while online at home. Sure enough, my sources at work knew exactly what I had been doing online based on rumors spread throughout the workplace. It has now come to my attention that my employer has contacted my apartment manager and the coffee shop I frequent to request them to report to my employer any meetings/visits I might be having with women. This sounds crazy, but it is really happening. How many lawsuits have I just described?

Rita Risser replies:

WOW. This is like a bar exam question! Get a lawyer, fast. At a minimum there could be invasion of privacy, and perhaps a violation of federal anti-hacking law or anti-wiretapping. Actually, the employer contacting the apartment manager and coffee shop may not be a violation of law, although depending on what the employer said, perhaps it could be sued for defamation of character. Good luck.

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