Components

Snoop CI

To what degree can employers “snoop” through your electronic devices?

Alyse Pflanz, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Bambi Landholm Van Horn, University of Nebraska at Kearney
January 19, 2021
SKU:
BUS-007322
Region: 
North America
Topic: 
Ethics & Social Justice, Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Length: 
3 pages
Keywords: 
cybersecurity, employee policies, personal email, privacy, human resources, employee handbook, company-furnished device
Copyrighted by: 
Society for Case Research
Student Price: 
$4.00 (€3.75)
Average rating: 
0

Instead of getting the golden parachute he was expecting, Paul Iacovacci, close to retirement at Brevet Capital Management LLC, got a pink slip and a lesson in cybersecurity. Brevet suspected Iacovacci was using a company-furnished device to steal trade secrets from Brevet to start a competing firm. This suspicion led Brevet to terminate Iacovacci’s employment and secretly access his company-furnished device while it was still in Iacovacci’s home. Brevet defends its action by stating the employee handbook allowed for full access to the company-furnished device and all hard drives attached to it. In a digital and mobile world, where more people are working remotely, the dilemma puts an exclamation mark on the issues surrounding a company’s ability to monitor employees versus an employee’s right to privacy. Should the employer have a moral obligation to notify employees when they are monitored remotely? What responsibility falls on the employee to separate work and personal information?

Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Identify the stakeholders and their concerns presented in the critical incident
  2. Analyze the effect of federal regulations as an additional layer of security on workplace digital device regulations
  3. Examine the ethical ramifications of company-furnished devices and software where privacy is concerned
  4. Critique employer and employee best practices and expectations concerning companyfurnished devices