Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

Technology is changing everywhere and part of this technology is the use of cell phones and texting ability. Many of us across the country and right here in Tennessee use cell phones each day, and may even be guilty of texting while at work a time or two, but a new ruling has allowed employers to read personal text messages of employees when the text messaging service is supplied by the employer or when it is violation of work rules.

This ruling is very important because it discusses employment and privacy rights and laws. This ruling also questioned the Fourth Amendment ban on “unreasonable searches” and questions whether this puts limits on public employers, mostly due to a privacy lawsuit filed by police officer, Sgt. Jeff Quon in Ontario, California, when the department’s chief of police Lloyd Scharf decided to read some of the text messages being sent using the department’s texting pagers. The lawsuit found that Sgt. Jeff Quon was texting personal messages to his ex-wife and girlfriend, using these pagers. After this happened, Sgt. Jeff Quon sued on the basis of privacy and won his case. However, this ruling the law favors the employer not the employee and the employee has “limited privacy expectation” when using a texting pager supplied by the department.

The search was considered reasonable because it was for a legitimate work-related reason and was not excessive. This ruling was thought to be very narrow and does not dispute all the issues that will come up in the future concerning technology and privacy rights for employees and their employers.

Many of us here in Tennessee and around the world, use technology such as computers, cell phones, and text messaging every day. However, maybe this ruling will be a wakeup call to many people that sometimes privacy laws and rights do not apply in some cases involving technology and the workplace. If you or your loved one have any questions or concerns about how this may affect you and your privacy, we encourage you to contact one of our experienced and caring Tennessee employment attorneys right away. We will hear your case, answer your questions and make sure your rights are being well protected.

In most cases here in Tennessee and across the country, when someone owes money for a debt, they have to pay the debt collector. However, in some cases like this one, the debt collectors’ conduct may be abusive or in violation of the law and in this leads to the debt collector actually owing the original debt the money instead of the other way around.

In this case, Allen Jones from Lewisville, Texas claimed being harassed by phone calls from the employees at the Advanced Call Center Technologies or “ACT” in 2007. The claim stated that ACT employees were trying to collect on credit card debt and they reportedly used racial remarks in voice messages to Jones. Then Jones and his attorneys used these saved messages to sue ACT.

The attorney for ACT, Dean Siotos, said the voicemails are not representative of how the company normally operates and says the calls must have been in some personal attack that was unrelated to the business. The two employees who allegedly left these messages, no longer work for ACT.

After a trial, the jury found that the company violated Texas collection rules and awarded Allen Jones $50,000 for mental anguish, $143,000 in attorney fees, and 1.5 million in additional damages. At this time, there is no information of an appeal by ACT.

Unfortunately, even with rules and guidelines and laws to help protect people in debt from these kinds of practices, calls like these happen every day, even to the residents of Tennessee. If you or someone you care about has been harassed or mistreated by debt collectors or their agencies, it is important that you contact one of our experienced Tennessee Debt Collection Claims Attorney right away. It is also a good idea to keep any evidence of the violation and show it to one of our attorneys. We will help make sure your rights are heard and that you get the compensation you deserve, for the treatment you have suffered.
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Many of us across the country and even right here in Tennessee are struggling to make ends meet in these hard economic times. We all work the best we can to pay our bills and to provide for our loved ones. That is why it is unfortunate and even frustrating to hear about cases in which employees may not have been given the proper amount of pay for the time they work. However, this happens every day and workers at Bank of America are no exception.

The lawsuit against Bank of America was filed on June 4, 2010 and resulted in one class action lawsuit. Current and former bank tellers and other hourly employees for the last three years have claimed that Bank of America violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws in California, Florida, Texas, Washington, and Kansas for not paying overtime for the employees that worked more than forty hours a week.

Instead of overtime pay, the bank was giving the employees paid time off or instructed them not to record more than forty hours on their time cards. Employees also claim that in some cases, the bank modified the tellers recorded hours to eliminate overtime. The workers in the class action lawsuit want back pay, attorney fees, and other damages for a total of more than $100 million, which would affect more than 180,000 employees at the bank’s branches.

When we go to work every day and put in the extra enough and time, it is our right to get properly paid for that time. If you or someone you love has been improperly paid for the hours they have worked or if you suspect other employment problems and issues, we encourage you to contact one of our overtime payment and employment attorneys right away. We will listen to your case and help make sure you get the pay you deserve for the work you have done.

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