Privacy Rights

Employers generally have broad leeway to run their companies as they see fit. To make business decisions, they can obtain a variety of personal information about their workers and can even research job applicants. Nevertheless, employees do have certain privacy rights under California law. Employees have the right to keep private facts about themselves confidential and the right to some degree of personal space.

An employer that discloses private facts or lies about an employee may be held liable in a civil action for invasion of privacy or defamation. For example, an employer may violate your privacy rights if they:

• Obtain detailed private information about you from a psychiatrist,
• Search you, your desk, or your locker,
• Perform a credit check on you, or
• Disclose your personnel records to third parties.

Of course, the specific facts of each case are critical in determining whether your rights have been violated.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated by your employer or former employer, call the experienced employment law attorneys at Meta Law Group to see how we can help defend your privacy rights!