B Ethics Discussion Post 
Week 1 Discussion Post:
1. If tracking employees through technology is not illegal, why should Megan be concerned if she is not involved in any misconduct?
Employers have the technological means, and occasionally the inclination, to find out what employees are doing on their own time. However, their right to monitor what the employee does off the job and make decisions based on that conduct is limited. Employees of government and public entities have a constitutional right to privacy that protects them from most employer monitoring of, or even inquiring about, their off-the-job conduct. For this reason, public employees are largely protected from monitoring. In the private sector, a number of laws prohibit employers from intruding into their employees' lives outside of work. Some state constitutions specifically include a right to privacy, which prevents private employers from looking into their employees' off-duty activity. Some states have laws prohibiting employers from taking any job-related action against a worker based on that worker's lawful conduct off the job, however in the State of Florida is an “at will” What that means is an employer has the ability to terminate your employment for any reason, or for no reason at all however the State of Florida also recognizes an implied-contract exception as an exception to at-will employment. Under the implied contract exception, an employer may not fire an employee "when an implied contract is formed between an employer and employee, even though no express, written instrument regarding the employment relationship exists." (Summers, 2000, page. 65). Even in states that don't provide private workers with a constitutional or statutory right to privacy, it is generally illegal for an employer to intrude unreasonably into the "seclusion" of an employee. This means that physical areas in which you have a reasonable expectation of privacy are off-limits to employers, unless there is a very good reason to intrude. The
1. If tracking employees through technology is not illegal, why should Megan be concerned if she is not involved in any misconduct?
Employers have the technological means, and occasionally the inclination, to find out what employees are doing on their own time. However, their right to monitor what the employee does off the job and make decisions based on that conduct is limited. Employees of government and public entities have a constitutional right to privacy that protects them from most employer monitoring of, or even inquiring about, their off-the-job conduct. For this reason, public employees are largely protected from monitoring. In the private sector, a number of laws prohibit employers from intruding into their employees' lives outside of work. Some state constitutions specifically include a right to privacy, which prevents private employers from looking into their employees' off-duty activity. Some states have laws prohibiting employers from taking any job-related action against a worker based on that worker's lawful conduct off the job, however in the State of Florida is an “at will” What that means is an employer has the ability to terminate your employment for any reason, or for no reason at all however the State of Florida also recognizes an implied-contract exception as an exception to at-will employment. Under the implied contract exception, an employer may not fire an employee "when an implied contract is formed between an employer and employee, even though no express, written instrument regarding the employment relationship exists." (Summers, 2000, page. 65). Even in states that don't provide private workers with a constitutional or statutory right to privacy, it is generally illegal for an employer to intrude unreasonably into the "seclusion" of an employee. This means that physical areas in which you have a reasonable expectation of privacy are off-limits to employers, unless there is a very good reason to intrude. The
References: Summers, C. (2000). Journal of Labor and Employment Law. Employment at Will: The Devine Rights of Employers (Vol. 3, p. 65). Philadelphia, PA: U. Pa. J. Lab. & Emp. L. Ferrell, O., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Stakeholder Relationships, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance. In Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (10th ed., p. 31). Stamford, CT: CENGAGE Learning.