1. In considering the legality of employer interception of employee e-mails at work, pick the
correct statement.
I. Employees have complete expectation of privacy since they can select their
password for in-house and remote access of e-mails.
II. A subpoena is required by the employer to read any e-mail that is clearly marked
“confidential” by the employee.
III. No expectation of privacy exists over an employer-owned computer system at
work.
IV. Statement by the employer that e-mails are confidential and privileged cannot be
later used by an employer to defeat an employee’s claim of privacy
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. I and IV
2. It is perfectly legal for employers to secretly and intrusively spy on their employees.
a. True
b. False
c.
3. Which of the following are ways businesses justify electronic surveillance of employees?
I. It measures and encourages efficiency.
II. It uncovers employee disloyalty.
III. It enhances the fairness of personnel evaluations.
IV. It prevents employees from sending personal emails on company time.
a. I and II only
b. I, II and III only
c. I, II and IV only
d. I, II, III and IV
4. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA):
a. supplements the Omnibus Federal Employee Workplace Privacy Rights Law of 2008.
b. has been an effective law because employee privacy intrusions are less common and
steadily declining since 2000.
c. restricts employer access to public chat room interactions.
d. fails to protect employees in most situations involving e-mail monitoring by public
and private employers.
5. According to the article excerpted in the text entitled, The Functions of Privacy, by Alan
Westin, privacy has several functions in today’s society. These include:
a. Total freedom in the private life with no consequences to the work life.
b. The ability to vent anger at authority without being held responsible.
c. The ability to post critical information on the Internet without consequences at work.
d. The ability to spend time quietly analyzing the actions and reactions of other people.
6. It is illegal to increase a specific employee’s health insurance premiums based on the
employee’s lifestyle.
a. True
b. False
7. A majority of states have enacted off-the-job privacy protection laws. What is the
LEAST effective argument by an employer to regulate off-the-clock activities in a state
that has not enacted such lifestyle rights legislation?
a. It will provide a healthy work force.
b. Unregulated employees are less productive.
c. There is no invasion of privacy since the employee is “at will.”
d. It will prevent higher health care and insurance costs.
8. According to the article, Can They Do That? By Lew Maltby:
a. A job candidate who has been arrested will probably not be disqualified unless the
candidate was found guilty.
b. Psychological tests are a good way to determine a job candidate’s honesty.
c. Employees who are being treated unfairly can protect themselves by joining a union.
d. Credit score can keep you from getting a job, even if it doesn’t involve handling
money.
9. Which of the following is NOT one of the three privacy rights created by the Supreme
Court through its interpretation of various constitutional amendments?
a. The government cannot interfere with the choices adults make about their private
family and sexual life.
b. An individual’s medical history cannot be publicized by the government.
c. Individuals are protected against unwarranted invasion of privacy by private
corporations.
d. Corporations are protected against unreasonable government searches or seizures.
10. Privacy rights are triggered under the Fourth Amendment:
a. when a corporation has authorized an agent with direct authority to perform an
electronic search of an employee’s e-mail account.
b. upon issuance of a subpoena duces tecum to bring electronic data (e-mails, files, etc.)
including electronic metadata such as headers, directional information, and other such
useful tracking data.
c. when the government is conducting a search.
d. during an archival search of e-mails on a corporation’s server.
11. When it comes to employment and social media:
I. Every U.S. law dealing with employee privacy grants significant deference to an
employer’s legitimate business interest.
II. U.S employers may legally canvass social media sites for information on
employees and potential employees and act upon the information found.
III. When an employer finds and uses social media information to reprimand or fire
an employee, the employer is obligated to disclose the method of gaining that
information to the employee.
IV. Statutes that specially govern the intersection of social media and workplace
privacy were enacted in 2013.
a. I and II only
b. I, II and III only.
c. I, II and IV only
d. I, II, III and IV
12. The 2004 Heath Information and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA):
a. requires consent for medical information to be accessed and shared.
b. prohibits discriminatory use of pre-employment medical tests.
c. prohibits employers from requesting genetic information as part of a post-offer
medical exam.
d. All of these statements are true.
13. Since a corporation is a “person” in the eyes of the law, a corporation’s constitutional
right to privacy is identical to a natural person’s rights.
a. True
b. False
14. Discuss the employee claims that counter businesses’ justification of electronic
surveillance.
15. Name the two main factors that most courts use in determining whether or not electronic
monitoring of employees is an invasion of privacy.
16. Briefly describe what Alan Westin believes are the “functions of privacy.”
17. Discuss Lewis Maltby’s proposition that employers should not do drug testing (or other
testing related to off-work conduct) but should instead focus on impairment testing when
an employee is entering the workplace.
18. The term “privacy” does not appear anywhere in the Constitution of the United States.
Discuss (meaning share your opinion and support it with anecdotes or evidence) whether
19. Discuss the privacy expectations of millennial employees.
20. Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) it is unlawful for an
employer to request, require or purchase genetic information related to employees of their
families. List at least three exceptions to this rule.
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