Running head: PRIVACY IMPACT ARTICLE SUMMARY 1

Privacy Impact Article Summary

Name

School Affiliation

Date
PRIVACY IMPACT ARTICLE SUMMARY 2

Privacy Impact Article Summary

In relation to human resource management, privacy in the workplace is often related to

pre-employment background checks and the use of technology. In the pre-employment period, an

employee's privacy becomes a concern due to the employer having access to the candidate's

credit reports, criminal records, and contacting former employers. While there lack clear and

straightforward privacy protections in the U.S Constitution, “constitutionally protected privacy

rights have been fashioned out of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable

search or seizure” (Walsh, 2019). This paper will focus on a case in which an employee’s

privacy was breached and the legal impact of this violation. Additionally, the paper will focus on

how companies can act in accordance with the privacy laws and how they can recover from

violations related to the privacy laws addressed in the case.

The article used for this paper is “Employers Beware: Judge Greenlights Employee’s

Privacy Lawsuit Over Dropbox Access.” In this article, the author examines the court decision

while also providing various practices that employers could use to avoid employee privacy

issues. The case involved Elizabeth Frankhouser, the Plaintiff who worked as the Executive

Director for CCTC, and the defendant, Franklin Walk, the employer's internet technology

administrator. Plaintiff’s position required her to work extensively on her work computer, while

the defendant resolved any work-related computer problems (Larose& Budoff, 2019). These

included re-synching and reloading computer applications such as Dropbox, which allows users

to store files on the cloud and access them by logging into any internet-connected device.

While the Plaintiff had a private Dropbox account, CCCTC authorized its use for storing

work-related files; thus, it contained both work-related and personal folders, including

photographs. The only way to access Plaintiff's account was through her username and password,
PRIVACY IMPACT ARTICLE SUMMARY 3

which she listed on an excel spreadsheet where she stored her passwords, both personal and

work-related. Walk knew of this spreadsheet and used the log-in details to access Plaintiff’s

Dropbox account. He then took some of the personal photographs from the account and handed

them to several top managers in the organization, including the Superintendent of Record. In

August 2017, the Superintendent accused the Plaintiff of storing inappropriate photographs in

her company-issued computer, violating company policy. As a result, she was informed that she

would be forced to resign.

Following the accusation, the Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy and

Fourth Amendment violations. According to Walsh (2019), the Fourth Amendment prohibits

unreasonable searches and seizures in situations whereby an individual has a constitutionally

protected reasonable expectation of privacy. Given that the Plaintiff did not view or store the

photographs in her company-issued company, she argued that she had a reasonable expectation

of privacy in her account. On the other hand, the defendant dismissed the Plaintiff's claim

because she did not have an expectation of privacy since she accessed the account frequently at

work and that she violated company policy by storing the photographs in her account.

Ultimately, the court held that the Plaintiff had a reasonable expectation of privacy on files

stored in her Dropbox account. The various reasons for this decision were that it was her private

account which was also password-protected, and that she never accessed the photographs while

on the company’s system.

Companies can act in accordance with privacy laws highlighted in the case by revisiting

their workplace privacy practices and policies. Given that employers often maintain a policy

regarding their employees’ expectation of privacy in the workplace, the policy should include a

notice to the employees of the employer’s right to monitor their activities when using the
PRIVACY IMPACT ARTICLE SUMMARY 4

company’s system (Larose& Budoff, 2019). However, the employer should exercise caution

while accessing and searching private accounts. Companies may also avoid such violations by

prohibiting the use of certain applications that involve a mix of business and private files stored

in the cloud. The use of storage applications that mix personal and business files may cause legal

violations to employers when they can differentiate between personal and business access of the

application.

When a company has been found guilty of violating an employee's right to privacy, the

resultant impact could be a bad reputation, financial implications, and loss of employees. One

way the company can recover from violation is by settling the financial implication with the

affected employee. In a case where the court rules that the employee be compensated a certain

amount, the company should pay the due amount and consider retaining the employee in their

respective position. According to Tuttle (2014), 76% of people in a research study said they are

unlikely to accept a job offer from a company with a bad reputation. Therefore, by salvaging its

reputation, the company can attract a more qualified workforce and talents in the future.

In my opinion, the company's internet administrator violated the Plaintiff's right to

privacy by accessing her personal account. The employee had a reasonable expectation of

privacy since her account was password-protected. Therefore, accessing her personal files

without her consent was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. While employers have a right to

access and search employees’ accounts, they ought to exercise caution in situations where

employees mix their personal and business files in a similar application.

PRIVACY IMPACT ARTICLE SUMMARY 5

References

Larose, C.J& Budoff, J.R. (2019). Employers Beware: Judge Greenlights Employee’s Privacy

Lawsuit Over Dropbox Access. The National Law Review, Vol. XI(236). Retrieved

August 24, 2021, from https://www.natlawreview.com/article/employers-beware-judge-

greenlights-employee-s-privacy-lawsuit-over-dropbox-access

Tuttle, H. (2014). Corporate Reputation Drastically Impacts Talent Acquisition, Salary Costs.

Retrieved August 24, 2021, from https://www.riskmanagementmonitor.com/corporate-

reputation-drastically-impacts-talent-acquisition-salary-costs/

Walsh, D.J. (2019). Employment Law for Human Resource Practice (6th ed). Cengage.