Employee Privacy: Oklahoma

Federal law and guidance on this subject should be reviewed together with this section.

Authors: Allen L. Hutson and Randall J. Snapp, Crowe & Dunlevy

Summary

• Oklahoma recognizes the tort of invasion of privacy, and employees may seek common law remedies for employer invasions of privacy. See Constitutional Right to Privacy.
• Oklahoma contains a constitutional right to privacy, though this has been limited to some extent by state courts. Courts generally employ a reasonableness test to determine whether or not an employer has violated an employee's right to privacy. See Constitutional Right to Privacy.
• Oklahoma courts recognize the tort for invasion of privacy. See Common Law Right to Privacy.
• Oklahoma has a statute that prohibits the use of wiretapping to monitor employee behavior and substantially limits other forms of electronic monitoring. See Employee Electronic Monitoring.
• Oklahoma also possesses statutes that delineate ethical rules for undertaking drug and alcohol tests of employees and storage of drug and alcohol samples. See Drug and Alcohol Testing of Employees
• Medical marijuana use is permissible in Oklahoma. See Medical Marijuana
• Oklahoma has statutes prohibiting the genetic testing of employees. See Genetic Testing of Employees
• Oklahoma has a Fair Credit Reporting Act, which mandates that an employer, when requesting a consumer credit report, provide written notice to the person who is the subject of the consumer report. See Oklahoma Act Regarding Fair Credit Reporting