Texting On Your Work Issued Phone: Can The boss Read Your Messages?

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide how much privacy workers have when they send text messages from company accounts.
The justices said they will review a federal appeals court ruling that sided with Ontario, Calif., police officers who complained that the department improperly snooped on their electronic exchanges. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco also faulted the text-messaging service for turning over transcripts of the messages without the officers' consent.
Users of text-messaging services "have a reasonable expectation of privacy" regarding messages stored on the service provider's network, 9th Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw said. Both the city and USA Mobility Wireless, Inc., which bought the text-messaging service involved in the case, appealed the 9th Circuit ruling.
The justices turned down the company's appeal, but said they would hear arguments in the spring in the city's case.
The appeals court ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Quon and three others after Arch Wireless gave their department transcripts of Quon's text messages in 2002. Police officials read the messages to determine whether department-issued pagers were being used solely for work purposes.
The city said it discovered that Quon sent and received hundreds of personal messages, including many that were sexually explicit.
Quon and the others said the police force had an informal policy of not monitoring the usage as long as employees paid for messages in excess of monthly character limits.
The case is City of Ontario v. Quon, 08-1332.

Regal Entertainment Group to Pay $175,000 for Sex Harassment of Man by Female Co-Worker

EEOC Said Manager Also Retaliated Against Victim and Supervisors Who Tried to Help

LOS ANGELES – Regal Entertainment Group, a national movie theater chain, will pay $175,000 and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that the company subjected a male employee to sexual harassment by a female co-worker and then retaliated against him for complaining about the unlawful conduct – along with two supervisors who tried to help.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that a male employee at a Regal theater in Marina del Rey, Calif., a section of Los Angeles, was subjected to a sexually hostile workplace by a female co-worker who repeatedly grabbed his crotch. When the male victim and his direct supervisor complained to the theater’s then-general manager, she failed to take adequate steps to stop or prevent the harassment. Instead, the EEOC said, she retaliated against the harassed employee and two other supervisory employees (male and female), who are part of the EEOC’s suit. The retaliation included unwarranted discipline, unfairly lower performance evaluations and/or stricter scrutiny of performance.
Sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit against Regal in 2006 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (U.S. EEOC v. Regal Entertainment Group, Inc., CV06-04145-ABC [CWx]) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
According to EEOC data, the percentage of men filing sexual harassment charges with the federal agency and state/local government agencies nationwide has increased over the past decade from 12 to 16 percent of all charges involving sexual harassment.

Beefeaters "harassed" lone female Tower guard

By Kylie MacLellan
LONDON (Reuters) - Two guardians of Britain's historic Tower of London have been suspended after a female colleague, the first woman warden in their 524-year history, accused them of harassment.
The Tower's 34 Yeoman Warders, commonly known as Beefeaters -- whose ceremonial dress is a distinctive scarlet and gold tunic, white ruff, red stockings and black patent shoes -- appointed Moira Cameron to their ranks in 2007.
Cameron, 44, who beat five men to secure the coveted position, has had her uniform defaced and nasty notes left in her locker, newspapers reported, while one suspect has been cautioned by police for defacing Cameron's entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
"We can confirm that three Yeoman Warders are under investigation in response to allegations of harassment; two have been suspended," the Tower of London said in a statement.
Scotland Yard said a 56-year-old man had been cautioned over the matter last month under the Communications Act.
"The matter related to inappropriate use of the Internet," a spokesman added.
Beefeaters, believed to have earned their nickname from their daily ration of meat, date from 1485 when King Henry VII formed a bodyguard.
To be eligible to join their ranks, candidates must have a minimum of 22 years' service in Britain's armed forces and have earned medals for long service and good conduct.
Cameron, who is from Argyll in the west of Scotland, joined the army in June 1985.
The Tower said an internal investigation had begun to see whether her allegations have any foundation and should conclude within two to three weeks."

The Tower of London was first built in 1078 by William the Conqueror. Its primary functions were as a fortress, royal palace and a prison, but it has served as a place of execution, an armory, a treasury, a zoo, a mint and -- since 1303 -- the home of the Crown Jewels.

Welcome to Florida Employment Laws

My name is Lowell J. Kuvin and I am a Florida attorney. Part of my practice specializes in Florida employment laws. My office can help you with such issues such as discrimination, unpaid wages and overtime, and wrongful termination.