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CWA-Backed Bill Would Protect Workers' Privacy in Changing Areas
CWA helped draft a bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prohibit video and audio monitoring of workplace bathrooms or changing areas.
The bill, titled the Employee Changing Room Privacy Act (H.R. 582) was put forth by Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and co-sponsor Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.). Both men serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, to which the bill was referred. Petri is vice chairman and Andrews is the ranking Democrat on the committee's Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
"Unfortunately, there have been a number of cases where employers have been caught engaging in secret surveillance of their employees in areas where workers have a reasonable expectation of privacy," Petri said.
He cited cases involving 19 locomotive engineers in Michigan who sued their employer for putting a camera in a locker room exit sign; a state college worker who discovered her boss had secretly videotaped her changing clothes in her office; and a waitress who was spied on in the employee changing room.
The Employee Changing Room Privacy Act calls for a fine of up to $10,000 for each violation, and it authorizes the Secretary of Labor to seek injunctive relief against an employer to stop future violations.
Petri said the bill "would strengthen the right to privacy at a time when the growing use of surveillance technologies at the workplace has endangered this most fundamental of American values."
The bill, titled the Employee Changing Room Privacy Act (H.R. 582) was put forth by Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and co-sponsor Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.). Both men serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, to which the bill was referred. Petri is vice chairman and Andrews is the ranking Democrat on the committee's Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
"Unfortunately, there have been a number of cases where employers have been caught engaging in secret surveillance of their employees in areas where workers have a reasonable expectation of privacy," Petri said.
He cited cases involving 19 locomotive engineers in Michigan who sued their employer for putting a camera in a locker room exit sign; a state college worker who discovered her boss had secretly videotaped her changing clothes in her office; and a waitress who was spied on in the employee changing room.
The Employee Changing Room Privacy Act calls for a fine of up to $10,000 for each violation, and it authorizes the Secretary of Labor to seek injunctive relief against an employer to stop future violations.
Petri said the bill "would strengthen the right to privacy at a time when the growing use of surveillance technologies at the workplace has endangered this most fundamental of American values."