Worker fired for disabling GPS app that tracked her 24 hours a day | Ars Technica
Wow!!! ~BizDevCon http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/worker-fired-for-disabling-gps-ap... Worker fired for disabling GPS app that tracked her 24 hours a day A Southern California woman claims she was fired after uninstalling an app that her employer required her to run constantly on her mobile phone—an app that tracked her every move 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plaintiff Myrna Arias, a former Bakersfield sales executive for wire-transfer service Intermex, claims in a state court lawsuit that her boss, John Stubits, fired her shortly after she uninstalled the job-management Xora app that she and her colleagues were required to use. According to her suit (PDF) in Kern County Superior Court: After researching the app and speaking with a trainer from Xora, Plaintiff and her co-workers asked whether Intermex would be monitoring their movements while off duty. Stubits admitted that employees would be monitored while off duty and bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments ever since she installed the app on her phone. Plaintiff expressed that she had no problem with the app's GPS function during work hours, but she objected to the monitoring of her location during non-work hours and complained to Stubits that this was an invasion of her privacy. She likened the app to a prisoner's ankle bracelet and informed Stubits that his actions were illegal. Stubits replied that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion….. Intermex did not immediately respond for comment. The suit, which claims invasion of privacy, retaliation, unfair business practices, and other allegations, seeks damages in excess of $500,000 and asserts she was monitored on the weekends when she was not working. Arias' boss "scolded" her for uninstalling the app shortly after being required to use it, according to the suit. Her attorneys said the woman made $7,250 per month and that she "met all quotas" during a brief stint with Intermex last year. "This intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person," the filing said.
Dnia wtorek, 12 maja 2015 11:32:34 Lodewijk andré de la porte pisze:
Why not have a work phone?
Doesn't solve the problem -- then she would get fired for turning it off or not having it on her at all times... -- Pozdrawiam, Michał "rysiek" Woźniak Zmieniam klucz GPG :: http://rys.io/pl/147 GPG Key Transition :: http://rys.io/en/147
On Fri, May 15, 2015 at 11:48:42PM +0200, rysiek wrote:
Dnia wtorek, 12 maja 2015 11:32:34 Lodewijk andré de la porte pisze:
Why not have a work phone?
Doesn't solve the problem -- then she would get fired for turning it off or not having it on her at all times...
Could they find out without stalking that she left work phone at home and went away? Was she supposed to be available 24/7? If not, is it legal to spy on worker after work hours and out of workplace (sure, some agencies may have it in the job contract, explicit or not, but other employers?). Oh, btw. Can she be punished if she forgot to charge her phone (say, can she be punished for being tired after work hours)? Can she be punished if after work she fell asleep in bath / made love / was learning Japanese / playing drums and didn't hear the ring (in case they wanted to check if she's with her phone)? Sure, it may look strange if one day she plays drums, another day makes love and yet another saws trees to build a DIY coffee table. But so what? Regards, Tomasz Rola -- ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. ** ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home ** ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... ** ** ** ** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_rola@bigfoot.com **
Dnia niedziela, 17 maja 2015 22:24:24 Tomasz Rola pisze:
On Fri, May 15, 2015 at 11:48:42PM +0200, rysiek wrote:
Dnia wtorek, 12 maja 2015 11:32:34 Lodewijk andré de la porte pisze:
Why not have a work phone?
Doesn't solve the problem -- then she would get fired for turning it off or not having it on her at all times...
Could they find out without stalking that she left work phone at home and went away? Was she supposed to be available 24/7? If not, is it legal to spy on worker after work hours and out of workplace (sure, some agencies may have it in the job contract, explicit or not, but other employers?).
Depends on the contract, I guess. :)
Oh, btw. Can she be punished if she forgot to charge her phone (say, can she be punished for being tired after work hours)? Can she be punished if after work she fell asleep in bath / made love / was learning Japanese / playing drums and didn't hear the ring (in case they wanted to check if she's with her phone)?
Yeah, these are the kinds of absurdities we land in with such fucked up policies.
Sure, it may look strange if one day she plays drums, another day makes love and yet another saws trees to build a DIY coffee table. But so what?
It doesn't look strange, it shouldn't "look" in any particular way. As in, that's nobody's business. -- Pozdrawiam, Michał "rysiek" Woźniak Zmieniam klucz GPG :: http://rys.io/pl/147 GPG Key Transition :: http://rys.io/en/147
On Tue, May 19, 2015 at 11:38:29AM +0200, rysiek wrote:
Dnia niedziela, 17 maja 2015 22:24:24 Tomasz Rola pisze: [...]
Sure, it may look strange if one day she plays drums, another day makes love and yet another saws trees to build a DIY coffee table. But so what?
It doesn't look strange, it shouldn't "look" in any particular way. As in, that's nobody's business.
Exactly! The woman in original post was dealing with small brother, which is very different to dancing with big bro (despite some people making claims and noises like it was the very "big bro" himself - maybe not on this list, I'm not sure, I don't trace so much "who what and where"). My point was, she could play the "nuissance" and "strangeness" to her advantage. Especially if she lived in some part of the world where suing is not so customary but the law still says "in dubio pro reo" - in case of doubt, give ear to the accused. She decided to milk dollars from the fat cow, which is probably ok, too - I only barely know the case as it was described in the news. -- Regards, Tomasz Rola -- ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. ** ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home ** ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... ** ** ** ** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_rola@bigfoot.com **
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Tomasz Rola