Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

On June 17, 2010, in Ontario v. Quon, the United States Supreme Court decided that the City of Ontario, California could review the non-work-related text messages to and from a City police officer on a City-issued electronic pager. Although the opinion involved a governmental employer and was largely grounded in a 4th Amendment analysis, private employers can take some comfort from Supreme Court's express holding that the review of the officer's personal text messages on the employer-issued pager could be "regarded as reasonable and normal in the private-employer context."