When is filming your female subordinate while in various states of undress a constitutional violation? That was the issue the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grappled with in its Oct. 12 opinion in Doe v. Luzerne County . While the court did not find a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, employers would be well-advised to ensure their employees are not videotaping co-workers in the shower.
The 3rd Circuit has remanded the Doe case to the district court for a determination of whether incidents in the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department amounted to violations of a deputy sheriff’s 14th Amendment right to privacy. The 3rd Circuit agreed with the district court’s summary judgment for the sheriff’s department, dismissing her Section 1983 claim of failure to train employees and Fourth Amendment claim of an unlawful search and seizure.
