Boss Places Cameras In Washrooms To Catch Texting Employees, Refuses to Take Them Down
Anyone who's worked for any length of time probably has a few war stories about an unreasonable boss. From withholding pay to asking for long hours to getting creative with health and safety regulations, there's no shortage of ways a boss can mess with employees.
A redditor took to the r/legaladvice subreddit to seek help for a workplace issue that had turned into a big deal. But as we look into the story, it becomes clear that this is not your everyday employer-employee beef.
We've all had horrible bosses
Whether you're working for a monolithic multinational corporation or a small mom-and-pop shop, your relationship with your fellow employees — and especially your boss — can make or break your experience.
Oftentimes, it's the bad bosses that we remember best. From the well-meaning but oblivious managers who made your job harder to the straight-up evil bosses who are trying to get as much work out of you for as little pay as possible, we've all been there.
Cameras can become a point of contention
Security cameras — and cameras in the workplace — have been a thing for decades, but in the 2020s, they're virtually everywhere. Most people would probably prefer not to be watched while they work, but this is our reality.
Besides, considering the low cost of cameras, it makes a lot of sense for an employer to install a few cameras — especially in a workplace where people are handling cash and the potential for theft is there.
What about washroom rules?
This one can be tricky, as employers don't want their workers hiding out in the washroom all day, but employees want to have enough time in there to do whatever they need to do.
Regardless of where you fall on washroom break rules and etiquette, there's one thing we can (hopefully) all agree on: Washrooms are a no-camera zone. No security cameras, and no snapping pics on your phone. Washrooms should be a private — and borderline sacred — space.
A Redditor detailed an interesting workplace issue
In the post on r/legaladvice, a Redditor writes, "My niece's employer has installed cameras in bathrooms to punish people texting on the pooper." Making matters even worse is the fact that the boss knows employees don't like this — but refuses to take the cameras down.
In this case, the well-meaning Redditor is seeking advice for their poor niece, who works for an apparently monstrous boss at her place of employment in Oklahoma.
The Redditor's niece was crying
Our story kicks off with this person's 23-year-old niece calling her, nearly in tears, completely frustrated with her boss. It seems the boss has punished her with reduced pay for "spending too much time in the bathroom."
Now, the fact that the poor woman was on her period and needed extra time in the washroom didn't seem to matter to her boss. It's a perfect example of why employers need to be understanding and flexible, but it seems this boss didn't get the memo.
Her boss thinks she's making it all up
The manager, who the Redditor (probably accurately) describes as a "complete idiot," apparently thinks that periods are made up by women to give them a reason to "act flippant towards authority."
The boss followed up this terrible hot take by threatening to punish the niece when she questioned the original punishment of having her pay reduced. The boss even lectured her on the importance of "learning her place." This whole story is one massive red flag, isn't it?
It's her first "real" job
The Redditor writes that her niece is working her first proper career job after graduating from college and is understandably doing everything she can to make a good impression and advance her career.
She's being hindered by her boss, whom her aunt describes as prejudiced and inflexible. Making matters worse, he may be well connected with a local judge, which empowers him to do shady things in the workplace and generally view himself as above the law.
"Things at her workplace have hit some lows recently"
You don't say! It sounds like the boss has shown enough toxicity for long enough that employees are starting to revolt. These toxic practices are, in many cases, straight-up illegal: Ignoring OSHA codes and lying to inspectors.
Employees are fed up, and the boss believes that they're taking washroom breaks not to go to the washroom, but to hide from their toxic workplace. This may in fact be true in some cases.
The solution? Cameras in the washrooms!
The cameras are apparently installed near the entrances to washrooms so everyone who goes inside can be monitored. The surveillance extends to the inside of the washrooms. Management is actively monitoring these video feeds and disciplining employees.
This discipline is doled out to anyone who spends too much time in there, in the eyes of management. Anyone who uses their phone when they're in the washroom is also disciplined because, of course, management has cameras on the inside as well.
Employees called out the company owner
It's important to note that, as the owner of the company, the buck stops with this guy in terms of approving something like cameras inside washrooms. An employee called the owner out at a town hall meeting.
It...did not go well. "This is MY company," the owner barked back. "No government or lawyer is going to tell me how to run MY BUSINESS. We will continue to monitor employee bathroom conduct until time theft via bathroom misuse stops."
Yes, time theft via bathroom misuse
Let's be real: Everyone has used their workplace washroom as a temporary respite when the demands of work get to be a little too much. But employers need to be somewhat flexible on this.
So long as employees are getting their assigned duties done, management is best advised to stay out of stuff like this. Eventually, you get to a point where people need to justify how long they need to spend on the toilet — or you just get a boss who installs washroom cameras.
Employees are quitting
Unsurprisingly, several employees have decided they've had enough and called it quits. But because this employer is one of the bigger companies in town, it isn't as easy for the rest of the employees to leave en masse.
The niece really wants to be out of there too, but she's just starting out in her career and needs the work. While she's actively looking for a new job, she isn't in a position where she can quit right now.
So what to do?
The Redditor is asking amateur and professional lawyers on r/legaladvice about the best way to go after this sketchy company without spending a lot of money on lawyer's fees, as no one is in a position to afford that.
For context, the aunt isn't sure if the cameras inside the washrooms are pointing into the stalls or not, and it isn't clear if the cameras are viewing any people who are minors. It seems like it must be illegal on some level.
Step one: Contact the state department of labor
The top comment, with more than 3,000 upvotes, spelled it out clearly: The niece should contact Oklahoma's Department of Labor. At the very least, it's a good starting point to give context and hopefully get a clearer understanding of what employees can and cannot do.
OSHA, or Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is another agency that would be good to contact. OSHA does more than just deal with unsafe working conditions, they can also provide help in situations like this.
The FBI could get involved
Most security cameras transmit their images and video over the internet at some point, just to make it more convenient for people to be able to view them remotely. This employer is probably no different.
This employer also probably doesn't realize that if the images are being transmitted over the internet, this would give jurisdiction to the FBI. From the Department of Labor to OSHA to the straight-up Federal Bureau of Investigation, there are a few agencies at play here.
Sexism is a factor, too.
Another commenter pointed out that the employer's comments about women's periods — he apparently believes they're not real and are used as an excuse — could justifiably get him in some hot water as well.
This is because women are a protected entity when it comes to discrimination law, and if the boss was punishing women for having a period, it's likely that he broke the law. "I smell a lawsuit," they concluded.
We're building a whole host of potential charges
"From what I can count, this person can likely be charged with discrimination, invasion of privacy or unlawful filming, potentially wire tapping laws if the camera has audio," wrote one commenter.
Furthermore, if anyone entering these washrooms is under the age of 18 — even if they're not an employee — you can add some especially sketchy potential charges to this growing list. The laws potentially being broken here are widespread, including both state and federal violations.
Wage theft is happening, too.
The boss and owner complained about time theft — the idea that employees were stealing their wages by receiving their pay but not doing their work. This was the whole justification for the cameras in the first place.
Unfortunately for the boss, the only theft going on here is likely wage theft, and the one carrying it out is the employer. Employers are not allowed to dock pay at their whim, particularly when employees are present and clocked in — even if they take washroom breaks.
It's important to document everything.
This is one of those situations where evidence of misdeeds should be everywhere — but this evidence could all disappear at a moment's notice if the company starts to suspect they might be in trouble.
With this in mind, it's absolutely critical to document everything. The niece needs to keep a journal with specific dates, times, and incidents. She'd also be well advised to take pictures of any of these privacy-invading cameras in the washrooms.
Mess around and find out
One commenter shared a story about OSHA. Their brother worked for a truck repair shop and eventually got so fed up with the OSHA and safety violations that, when the boss messed with him, he called OSHA on the company.
Long story short, OSHA investigated, and the company was forced to shut down. "I'd rather be audited by the IRS every day for six months than by OSHA for a single day," they wrote.
Remember, there's an expectation of privacy in washrooms
If a camera is watching you while you take a break in a public area, or if it's watching you handle cash, or even if it's watching you in the back area, it might feel like an invasion of privacy, but is totally legal.
In washrooms, though, there's an expectation of privacy — and this is backed up by legal precedent. Many people who have tried to install cameras in washrooms and been caught for it have been hit with criminal charges.
We're talking about a felony offense
One poster found that this is a pretty clear violation of Peeping Tom laws in the state of Oklahoma. The key here is that cameras are used "when the person viewed is in a place where there is a right to a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Anyone who's convicted of this will be guilty of a felony. "The violator shall be punished by imprisonment ... for a term of not more than five years, or by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by both," the statute says.
The Supreme Court has ruled on this as well
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Consolidated Freightways, a shipping company, back in 2002 for a very similar case. The issue at hand was that the company placed surveillance equipment in a washroom, ostensibly to stop illegal drug activity.
In this case, the company claimed that employees were aware of the cameras — but this story fell flat when an employee found a camera that was hidden behind a washroom mirror.
It's time to lawyer up
The aunt went to Reddit specifically to avoid costly legal fees and to get an idea of what they were dealing with. Well, Reddit came up with the following advice: Get a lawyer, pronto, because this case needs a lawyer.
The prospect of researching and securing a lawyer and then embarking on a full-blown lawsuit or legal case is daunting. But when you're going against someone who's clearly broken multiple laws, it's usually the only recourse.
Most lawyers will consult for free
Fortunately for the aunt, most attorneys are more than willing to chat with a prospective client at no charge. It's how a lot of them find cases to work. The aunt needs to find one of these lawyers.
Complicating matters somewhat is the fact that this employer apparently has a lot of pull in town, so this is a case that might require searching farther afield. There's no use consulting with a lawyer if that lawyer is friends with the boss.
From lawyers to reports, there are options
It's all a bit daunting, but all the niece needs to know is that her concerns are justified, because this is all totally illegal. Her choice at this point is whether she wants to simply report these workplace violations, or take matters to court.
Her best option is probably to do both. She and her coworkers are likely in a good position to launch a lawsuit — and the money would come in handy since they're likely all on the verge of quitting their jobs anyway.
Even if local police do nothing, there are other agencies.
"This employer is PLAYING WITH FIRE, and YOU employees should send photos of the cameras AND any witness statements that actual minors or adults were recorded in a state of undress," wrote an emphatic commenter.
"[These photos should be sent] to the local police, the state police AND the District Attorney's office, the State Attorney's office AND FBI/Federal Attorney Office!" Those are a lot of offices that could cause a lot of problems for this company.
The aunt is taking action.
In a follow-up edit, the aunt thanked the commenters for providing some solid advice and explained what her next steps would be in advising her niece.
"I'll call her this evening and suggest [to] start by reaching out to OSHA or the labor board, and look into lawyers who work on contingency or free consultation (I wasn't aware this was a thing," they wrote. "Also the 'call the police' idea too, I'll suggest to her."
Hopefully, this was resolved.
This all happened about a year ago, and we unfortunately don't have any recent updates on how this all planned out — and searching Google News doesn't reveal much as the aunt never gave the name of this company.
Judging by the details, many laws were being violated at many different levels. It's possible that the niece just decided to quit and not take any further steps, but we'd like to think that her boss got some sort of legal comeuppance.
There are some takeaways here.
Out of all this, we can conclude a couple of things. First off, this boss sounds like a monster, and it sounds like the company is rotten all the way to the top.
Secondly, it's definitely illegal to be filmed in a washroom. It isn't okay if a Peeping Tom tries to snap an illicit pic, and it isn't okay if your boss sets up cameras. If you ever find yourself in this situation, do not stand for it.
