This may be the age of reality TV and omnipresent Web cams, but companies better think more than twice about video-spying on employees-even if such surreptitious taping is not specifically addressed in a collective bargaining agreement.
So said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 10-to-1 en banc ruling in June, bolstering the rights of employees to sue their employer even when they are parties to a collective bargaining agreement. The decision in Cramer v. Consolidated Freightways Inc., allows a class action suit by workers at the shipping company to proceed. It also further defines the law surrounding collective bargaining agreements and when they can preempt lawsuits against employers.
