employee privacy

[ivehadit]

Soc,

A co-worker of my wife is in a unique situation - not sure if you might be able to provide insight or not. I said I'd ask...

case is in CA

Woman worked for an adoption facilitator for a while and she just found out that her former employer is set to be deposed against her on Monday in a CUSTODY fight with her ex BF for her son.

Woman didn't leave the facilitor's company on good terms and she is concerned because the facilitator has intimate knowledge of her life, including the details of a child she placed prior, using that same adoption service she worked for. (no the child placed was not the exBF's) She wasn't fired from the facilitator's company, she quit.

The exBF apparently called the facilitator to get "dirt" on his ex because he knew they were on bad terms.

1. Can this former employer discuss anything regarding this woman's private life legally?

2. What is this former employer allowed to speak of, bearing in mind this woman was also a client a year prior?

3. Could this former employer/facilitator provide documents to the exBF and his attorney regarding the child the woman placed earlier?

4. Isn't there some sort of privacy law this violates? Either on the end of being a client or as a former employee? After someone leaves employment, isn't there some sort of prevention regarding blacklisting?

5. This deposition is set to happen Monday afternoon, (april 4) if there are laws against any type of disclosure of private information this ex employer could violate, is there anything the woman might be able to do to prevent to deposition from happening?

Thank you for your time.  

[socrateaser]

>1. Can this former employer discuss anything regarding this
>woman's private life legally?

The objective of a deposition is to obtain information "reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence." Much of what the employer knows is probably irrelevant and thus inadmissible at trial, but at a deposition, almost any question is ok.

>
>2. What is this former employer allowed to speak of, bearing
>in mind this woman was also a client a year prior?

I'm not up on the California code related to adoption privacy, but if I were her attorney, I would review it before the deposition, so that I could object appropriately to any privileged question. Your friend should ask her attorney to do just that (in writing).

>
>3. Could this former employer/facilitator provide documents to
>the exBF and his attorney regarding the child the woman placed
>earlier?

Probably not. I'm pretty certain, that would be overreaching.

>
>4. Isn't there some sort of privacy law this violates? Either
>on the end of being a client or as a former employee? After
>someone leaves employment, isn't there some sort of prevention
>regarding blacklisting?

I just don't have time to research this at the moment. Adoption yes, but employment, probably not restricted. My main tactic would be to object to any non-work related answer as speculation. In other words, I'd want to be certain that the employer actually heard the party tell her things, and not just be filling in the gaps with what the employer believes. I'd also try to get the employer to admit that their relationship was hostile at the end, in order to demonstrate that the employer has an ax to grind.

>5. This deposition is set to happen Monday afternoon, (april
>4) if there are laws against any type of disclosure of private
>information this ex employer could violate, is there anything
>the woman might be able to do to prevent to deposition from
>happening?

Much of what happens in a depo never sees the light of day in a courtroom. Best to remain calm and act like it's no biggie. Be friendly with the witness, off the record. Don't get emotional and start whining, "That's a lie." Just sit and smile, like you know something the witness doesn't. Otherwise, if the witness knows she's getting to you, then that will drive her to improve her story to undermine yours -- assuming that the employer is highly adverse -- which is apparently the case.