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The U.S. Supreme Court’s “reasonableness test” has been used to balance legitimate business needs with a public sector employee’s expectation of privacy in his own office.1 Though O’Connor v. Ortega applies only to public sector employers, it is a good indication of the test that courts will likely apply to private sector employers. The test focuses on whether:
A federal court applied this test to workplace technology in Williams v. Philadelphia Housing Authority. In that case, a supervisor removed a computer disk from a public employee’s desk while he was on leave. The supervisor then read the information on the disk to locate work-related documents and discovered it also contained personal documents. The court held that it was not unreasonable for a supervisor to enter an employee’s office to retrieve important work-related materials while the employee was on leave. Review of the personal documents on the disk while searching for work-related material was not considered unreasonable.2 Though this case dealt with a public employer, it is an excellent example of how the courts will balance competing rights and will likely become part of the precedent applied to private sector employers.
1. O’Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709 (1987)
2. Williams v. Philadelphia Housing Authority, 826 F. Supp. 952 (E.D. Pa. 1993)