Wrongful Termination Suit: California Woman Fired for Deleting a 24/7 Location Tracking App from her Phone

June 12, 2015 - California’s own Myrna Arias is a former employee of Intermex. While she worked for the company she was issued an iPhone. As an employee of the money transfer company she was also required to download Xora (which is an application/tool designed to help businesses to streamline their scheduling and travel routes for employees in the field).

Myrna Arias was allegedly fired for uninstalling the location-tracking application. Her boss required it to be downloaded on the company issued phone for company’s use in maximizing employee time while on the clock.

Her boss allegedly admitted to Ms. Arias that use of the app meant that her location would be tracked both during AND after business hours as the app ran 24/7. Ms. Arias stated that he even went so far as to brag that he knew the exact speed she was traveling at any given point during the day or night.  

Myrna Arias states that she didn’t have an issue with the application tracking her through GPS function during her work hours, but that she definitely objected to the continued use of the tracking application during non-work hours. She complained about it to her boss, John Stubits, telling him that it was an invasion of her privacy. He replied to her complaints in an unsatisfactory manner. Reminding her that she was required to keep her phone on 24/7 in order to accept phone calls from clients. She deleted the application in April 2014. 

The use of this type of employee tracking app is a new phenomenon that is becoming more and more popular. Some see this type of application as a major cause of the breakdown of traditional boundaries between professional and private lives. 

Arias filed suit in Kern County Superior Court seeking damages over $500,000.

If you would like to discuss the possibility that you are a victim of wrongful termination, contact the southern California employment law experts at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

Female Employees Sue Papa Murphy’s for Secret Filming in Workplace Bathrooms

Four women are suing the Martinez franchise owner of the popular Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza. The suit is based on their allegations that their former boss secretly videotaped them in the employee restroom while using the toilet and undressing. The women claim they suspected their boss, Jason Lassor, of secretly taping them in the workplace’s unisex bathroom for three months before they eventually discovered a hidden camera inside of a cardboard box placed on a shelf in the bathroom.

Lassor already pleaded guilty to one felony count of child pornography and a misdemeanor unlawful electronic video recording charge. One month after pleading guilty, Lassor was sentenced to 120 days in county jail. His time was served by electronic home detention.

One of the four women (who will go unnamed as sex assault victims) was under 18. The women’s representation indicated that the situation was a significant breach of trust and that they were completely devastated when they learned of the filming device. They will continue dealing with the after effects of learning that their privacy had been so irrevocably breached by their employer for some time.

While the women had suspicions that they were being filmed for months prior to finding proof, they feared reprisal and workplace retaliation if they were to complain about their suspicions. When the video camera was discovered in January of 2013, the woman who discovered it called one of the other women who was at home at the time. She came to the place of business, picked up the camera and delivered it to the Martinez police. Lassor was arrested later that same day.

The suit filed by the women against the company and the franchise owner claims negligent supervision, training and retention as well as invasion of privacy, sexual discrimination, harassment and other workplace violations of employment law.

If you have questions regarding your rights to address uncomfortable work situations (suspected or otherwise) while avoiding employer retaliation in the work place contact the California employment law experts at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.