Section 10 Intrusion Into Seclusion Claims

• Library: Employer-Employee Law 2008

An actionable intrusion into seclusion occurs when “the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.” Sofka v. Thal, 662 S.W.2d 502, 510 (Mo. banc 1983).

One court held that employees who refused to submit to a drug test had no invasion of privacy claim. Baggs v. Eagle-Picher Indus., Inc., 750 F. Supp. 264, 272 (W.D. Mich. 1990). The court held that there was no intrusion into privacy. Id. at 272; see also Luedtke v. Nabors Alaska Drilling, Inc., 768 P.2d 1123, 1138 (Alaska 1989) (“we hold that no cause of action for invasion of privacy arises where the intrusion is prevented from taking place”).

For employees who did submit to the drug test, the Baggs court...