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Workplace Searches and Surveillance

Learn about employers’ rights to conduct searches, drug testing, and other investigations, and employees’ corresponding rights of privacy.

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This video will examine the law of workplace searches and surveillance.

A cook worked in a government-owned restaurant in a state office building. The restaurant’s kitchen had a dozen workstations, which were open countertop areas used for certain tasks. The cook usually stood at one of the stations preparing vegetables. The stations were accessible to passersby and visible from anywhere in the kitchen. Workers would typically use their preferred stations, but the stations weren’t formally...