In its long-awaited decision in City of Ontario v. Quon, the Supreme Court today held that a government employer's search of records concerning an employee's use of an employer-issued pager was reasonable. However, the Court did not provide any guidance on the question of whether an employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her use of an employer-issued pager or cell phone when using it for personal reasons. The Court, rather, simply assumed for purposes of its analysis that an employee does have a reasonable expectation of privacy of such use, and expressly cautioned that its ruling should not be relied upon to define the existence and extent of such privacy expectation. This no doubt has left employers and their counsel disappointed. It was anticipated that the Supreme Court would provide some much-needed guidance on this issue so that employers can act accordingly in handling issues of employee use of work-issued cell phones and e-mail.
If you would like guidance or counsel on issues involving employee use of cell phones or e-mail, or other employee privacy issues, please contact Eric Gunderson and/or visit the Farrell & Gunderson website.
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