Book Review: Employment Privacy

• Publication year: 2005
• Citation: Vol. 2005 No. 12

Vermont Bar Journal 2005.

December 2005b - #8. Book Review: Employment Privacy

THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL

#164, December, 2005, Volume 31, No. 4

Book Review: Employment Privacy

Matthew Finkin Provides a Basic Reference Guide to a Complex Field of Law

Reviewed by Kathryn Sarvak, Esq.

. . . a federal district court in Florida allowed a group of dancers employed by Walt Disney World to sue for emotional distress and invasion of privacy after the company used them as bait, without their knowledge or consent, to catch another employee who was videotaping them in their dressing room

In his book, Privacy in Employment Law, Matthew Finkin covers six main areas of concern: medical screening; drug, tobacco and alcohol testing; psychological screening; interviews and background investigations; employee monitoring; and employee control. Touted as a basic reference guide, this book does offer a well-rounded overview of the historical and more recent developments in employment law. The broad examination of local employment law intersecting with federal law provides the reader with a thorough appreciation for the complexity of the topic. Certainly any attorney would benefit from the insights Professor Finkin offers. The book is well written and tackles issues that touch virtually every American.

This publication is half the book it appears to be: the second half of the book contains statutory and regulatory provisions from the states regarding polygraphy and lie detection, drug testing, use of alcohol, tobacco, and lawful products, access to personnel records, electronic monitoring, job reference immunity, and genetic testing, as well as comparative law from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and France. Having the appropriate statutes collected is valuable for comparative purposes, giving the reader a significant research foothold into finding the relevant law when necessary. But the text obviously cannot be relied upon for current accuracy as these statutes may have changed significantly since Finkin collected them. Future supplements, it is hoped, will update these materials.

While fairly methodical in its topics, the case analysis is occasionally disappointing. Some case references merely indicate that a court dealt with a particular issue, but the court's conclusion is not offered. At other times, the lack of factual details renders the analysis inconsequential. Periodically, the author...