Have a Legitimate Business Purpose to Search

The U.S. Supreme Court’s “reasonableness test” has been used to balance legitimate business needs with a public sector employee’s expectation of privacy in his own office.¹ Though O’Connor v. Ortega applies only to public sector employers, it is a good indication of the test that courts will likely apply to private sector employers. The test focuses on whether:

• Reasonable grounds exist for suspecting that the search will reveal evidence of work-related misconduct
• The search is necessary for a non-investigative, work-related purpose, such as looking in