A federal appeals court has ruled against a Montana man who claimed his privacy was invaded when he was caught watching child pornography at work.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that Jeffrey Ziegler did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy that would prohibit his employer from searching his computer at work, Reuters reported.
The court, based in San Francisco, cited other such cases in its ruling in which employee monitoring and surveillance are common practices that demonstrate privacy in the workplace should not be expected.
Ziegler claimed that his right against unreasonable searches was violated during the incident and that it should prevent authorities from using evidence found on his computer against him.
Judge Diarmuid O’Scanlon wrote in his decision that employees are not entitled to privacy in the use of work computers, citing loss of productivity and employer liability issues.
