Final Exam Essay

1. Personal Privacy, along with privacy in the workplace, is not always a proverbial black and
white issue. Three aspects of privacy !eing able to control intimate or personal information
from being freely available, having the intent of having personal decisions made freely, and
being able to have thoughts free from scrutiny are important aspects when considering an
individual with relation to privacy. The right to privacy in the workplace may be influenced by
various things such as what, when, and why an action was being completed.
The burden is usually on the organi"ation to prove or establish the validity of violation of
privacy rights. #sually the burden of proof re$uires that the infringement had a legitimate
interest at stake and the steps to taking action are reasonable. %ith consideration to &ames' right
of privacy, ( believe that this right was not violated. Taking into account the worker and the
organi"ation, the organi"ation has a better standing than the actions of &ames. The )ob of a
customer service representative at *tanford (nsurance is to assist clients with claims and
insurance $uotes. Technology is used in this particular business to further aid the customer
service experience. &ames, an employee at *tanford (nsurance, went on lunch and left his
computer on standby mode. This in itself signifies that he has not secured his privacy, as this is
allowing it to be freely available to anyone. %hen +orraine, another employee at *tanford
(nsurance, needed to use &ames' computer for something related to a customer, she inadvertently
discovered pornographic pictures. ,egardless of any other complication, +orraine did not violate
his right to privacy.
( believe that invading privacy has to be held into full account when it was done with
intention. The intention would have to be one that had been for the purpose of invading privacy.
-ttempting to aid a customer, +orraine used a common tactic to assist the customer when her
computer was not working, use another employee's computer. Furthermore, pornographic images
being viewed at work on or off the clock should not be considered something acceptable. The
computer being used is property of the company and used for the primary purpose of assisting
the customer in need, not for personal pleasure. %hen something morally incorrect is
established, the supervisor should have the right to further investigate the complaint. The pictures
were found by accident on a company computer by an employee who did not have the intention
of finding pictures, rather )ust wanted to help a customer.
This issue is something that can be analy"ed as a possible invasion of privacy, but when
certain criteria are mentioned, the claim loses support. .aving pornographic images displayed at
work to begin with is immoral and could be applied to any company policy for negatively
effecting work performance. The right of privacy was not invaded as &ames did not securely lock
his computer to the capability that a full intent was shown that an employee wanted to knowingly
gain access to his computer.
/. #pon looking at the company's policy that is mentioned, it does not declaring state anything
other than a broad definition. 0Even though the company does not have a written policy
prohibiting visiting web sites, all employees are expected to use their computers for work1related
purposes2, declares that there is no formal policy to address this issue. The .uman ,esource
3ept. uses a loose interpretation of the policy to determine the outcome of this situation. The
company policy does state that all employees are expected to use their computer for work based
purposes. Pornography viewed many of times does not $ualify as work relation. !eing a
customer service company, the decision to tie up the potential line capacity regardless if an
employee is on break, could have a negative effect on the company's main purpose to provide
customer service. .aving the company being based on a trust basis does implicate that cases are
to be dealt with on a case to case basis and that this case obviously violates the employers' trust
for the employee. &ames being terminated based on his action does represent a fair discipline.
*omething of this magnitude does not, in my opinion, re$uire a warning. - warning is for
someone that is either caused by neglect or unknowingly makes a mistake. - warning is for an
employee who needs to be reminded of the company policy. This was also after an investigation
it seems, as it took two days for him to be terminated. -lso, there is a substantial amount of guilt
displayed as records from the computers could be analy"ed to prove the misuse of work time.
3espite &ames knowing that many other employees use the internet to surf during work hours,
his claim will be difficult to have )ustified. The concept of pornography in a workplace brings up
a 0sticky2 situation in which most individuals would rather disregard. !eing labeled as allowing
your employees to visit pornography and not terminating them when it could have affected the
work environment, would create a negative stigma towards the company. -s for &ames, he could
have easily watched porn at home, in which is privacy would be fully enabled. .owever, he
chose to disregard the policy as one that says that the computer is used for work related purpose
and effectively suffered termination. (n addition, it does not say what state the example is in, but
as an at1will employer in almost every state, the company has the capability of terminating him
with cause if they feel that it is enough by their standards.
4. .ired to perform a ,isk -ssessment of *tandard (nsurance, some liability issues arise.
5ompanies often gather personal information about employees, but the critical issue is that
deliberation is necessary as well as free choice. 3eliberation re$uires that employers provide all
facts and allow the employee to understand the conse$uences. Free choice entails that the
decision to participate must be voluntary. .ere, there was no such thing being accomplished as
this case had the issue found by accident. .owever in future occurrences each employee should
be informed that they possibly may be monitored and have the above rights. 6onitoring of
employees is another liability issue that can be described. This often gathers personal
information about them without them knowing. 7eystrokes, phone conversations, and email
checking are common issues that could arise in the workplace. (n this example, &ames could have
had is privacy violated by having his internet surfing being documented.