Employment Law Essay, legal homework

For each assignment in this course, you will be presented with two questions: A legal question and a practical advice question.

For the legal question, please answer the question using appropriate case law and/or statutory law. You do NOT need to use a full-fledged IRAC-type essay, but you should clearly identify the legal issue, cite appropriate authority and properly apply the authority to the question at hand.

For the advice question, you will be asked to suggest how an employer should undertake an action or policy in a way that is legal and appropriate. You do not need to cite authority (though you may), but your advice should be consistent with the principles you learned in this course.

Legal Question

Linda works the evening shift at a bank. Her husband, Amador, calls the office one evening to speak with her. When Linda does not answer her phone, Amador calls Linda’s supervisor, Herman, who is a close childhood friend of his. Herman informs Amador that Linda has not reported to work that evening, the evening before or on several other evenings during the prior few weeks. As a result of this discussion, Amador learns that Linda was spending the evenings with her ex-boyfriend. Several days later, Amador commits suicide. Amador’s family sues the bank for invasion of privacy, alleging that Herman did not have the right to inform Amador that Linda had not reported for work. Can the company be held liable for invasion of privacy? Explain, using applicable legal authority.

Advice Question

Janet decides to install video surveillance in every area of her restaurant so she can see how her wait staff interacts with the customers and with one another. She is worried that her employees will have a viable invasion of privacy claim against her for engaging in this type of surveillance. How should she proceed to minimize their privacy expectations?