An employee who had delivered confidential, proprietary documents to her lawyers in a class-action employment lawsuit against the company was properly fired for violating the company’s privacy policy and code of conduct, the Sixth Circuit rules.
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been barred by the D.C. Circuit from divulging confidential employer information to a third party until it can show that its disclosure rules do not conflict with various federal laws, including the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act.
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According to a recently released Proofpoint survey (free copy available), 41 percent of large U.S. corporations employ staff to read employee e-mail, and 26 percent have terminated employees for e-mail policy violations in the past year. Read more

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit against Seven Eleven of Hawaii, Inc. and its parent company, Seven Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. for disclosing an employee’s health information to a prospective employer during a reference check. Read more

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a directive to its personnel concerning the accessing of personally identifiable employee medical records during compliance reviews or where OSHA standards require such information. Read more

An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advisory letter to a federal agency on the handling of employee medical records can provide guidance to private employers. Read more