U.S. Supreme Court to Address Privacy of Text Messages Sent on Employer-Owned Devices
The Seattle Times reported this week that the United State Supreme Court announced that it would consider whether an employee has a right to privacy when sending and receiving text messages on an employer-owned electronic device. The case is City of Ontario v. Quon, and is an appeal from a 2008 Ninth Circuit ruling (Quon v. Archwireless Operating Company, Inc.). In that case the Ninth Circuit held that an employee’s right to privacy outweighed the public employer’s right to audit text messages sent from its employer-issued pagers. See our 2008 news alert for more information about the Ninth Circuit ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case in the spring and issue a decision by the end of June 2010.
