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Showing posts from March, 2014

Employers Demanding Facebook Passwords?

Does an employer have the right to see your postings on various social media outlets on the internet?  States are moving to pass laws preventing an employer from asking for your password for Facebook and other social media sites. In 2012 six states passed laws to prohibit this employer practice. In 2013 seven more states followed. Other states are considering legislation. This is basically a privacy issue. And while an employer may have a right to perform a background check on  an employee or prospective employee when relevant to that employee's job performance, an employer may not have the right to invade an employee's private life where the matter is not directly relevant to the workplace. In all, as i=of the date of this writing, 26 states have either passed, introduced or have pending legislation on the matter. Here is a list :

Legal Duty and Why It Matters

Legal Duty. What is it and why do we care about it? This article will explain. This article will explore the basic concept and role of legal duty.  “Duty” is a term of art within the law. Its use is pervasive and it provides a floor or minimum level of legally acceptable behavior within a given set of circumstances. It is a method of imposing a legal obligation upon a person to behave in some manner. Injury occurs on a regular basis through accident, neglect, and even through intent. Not all injury is compensable under the law. It is only when a legal duty arises and has been breached that a person is entitled to legal reparations for that injury. Duty provides the very basic threshold of inquiry into the question of liability. Thus, the question of when a legal duty is owed has occupied courts for some time. The seminal U.S. case on the matter is Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. [i]  The facts of the case are instructive on the question of duty.  A passenger, hurrying