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Worker Fired For Disabling GPS App That Tracked Her 24 Hours a Day

An anonymous reader writes: Myrna Arias claims she was fired for refusing to run an app that would track her location even when she was off the clock. She is now suing Intermex Wire Transfer LLC in a Kern County Superior Court. Her claim reads in part: "After researching the app and speaking with a trainer from Xora, Plaintiff and her co-workers asked whether Intermex would be monitoring their movements while off duty. Stubits admitted that employees would be monitored while off duty and bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments ever since she installed the app on her phone. Plaintiff expressed that she had no problem with the app's GPS function during work hours, but she objected to the monitoring of her location during non-work hours and complained to Stubits that this was an invasion of her privacy. She likened the app to a prisoner's ankle bracelet and informed Stubits that his actions were illegal. Stubits replied that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion...."

21 of 776 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by dugancent · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article spells out that she was required to have the phone on her 24/7 as a condition of employment.

    --
    SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
  2. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by Idarubicin · · Score: 2, Informative

    The solution: leave the phone at work when you are off duty.

    That would work...except that the employer insisted that she keep the phone with her and powered on at all times. According to the claim, she was on call for client emergencies, even when off the clock.

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    ~Idarubicin
  3. Maybe this would have worked... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Companies need to learn that slavery works totally different in 20th century:
    The company should have offered her 5% less salary on the job offer and then ask if she wants to join a "voluntary data collection study" that measures employee driving behavior off-duty compared to work tasks. She could win by being part of the study a maximum of 7% on top of her salary. On top she should be proud of being part of this circle of privileged employees that push the boundaries of making work a better place. And all she had to do is install an app on her phone that collects data. During her anniversary review she would receive a 5% as part of being in the study, by just missing by few points the bracket for 7%.... but she can do better next year...

    I hope one would see the sarcasm in the previous statement...

  4. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Informative

    uh ... where exactly does it say that ?

    Line 26 and 27 of page three and line 1 of page 4 of the complaint:

    He confirmed that she was required to keep her phones power on "24/7" to answer phone calls from clients.

    He in this case is Stubbs.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  5. Re:Work stays at work! by nevermore94 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apparently you have never worked in a job where you are on call 24/7 even when you only work in the office 9-5. I am a Sr. Systems Engineer, but when things go really bad somewhere, I am supposed to be reachable at all times except when I specifically am "on vacation". Fortunately, I get to use my own phone with no obnoxious company software on it.

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    Nevermore.
  6. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Informative

    The complaint (the pdf in the second link of the story) outlines the laws she alleges were broken. An interesting read.

    She also asked for a jury trial, which in civil cases only requires 9 of 12 jurors to agree with her. If the jury decides that the allegations are more likely than not to be true, the company (and the 15 John Does and named defendants) are going to pay. People should always have the option to decide whether they want their private life known, and to who.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  7. Re:first, don't let them put their shit on YOUR ph by amicusNYCL · · Score: 4, Informative

    First, read TFA. It's short. Then you won't look like a moron. You'll see things like the first paragraph:

    A Central California woman claims she was fired after uninstalling an app that her employer required her to run constantly on her company issued iPhone - an app that tracked her every move 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    You'll also find bits like this:

    The app had a "clock in/out" feature which did not stop GPS monitoring, that function remained on. This is the problem about which Ms. Arias complained.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  8. Re:Privacy? by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 4, Informative

    In my lifetime the number of incarcerated Americans has risen about 300%.

  9. Re:Privacy? by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe the US of A should put more money into public schools, infrastructure and public service instead of F-22's.

  10. Re:Privacy? by mysidia · · Score: 3, Informative

    Maybe the US of A should put more money into public schools, infrastructure and public service instead of F-22's.

    The only difference between putting the money in education or defense is which set of bureaucrats, corrupt administrators, industry partners, and union members get to line their pockets.

    I see universities and elementary schools a like --- when they get extra money, more of the additional cash goes to landscaping, campus beautification, and to massively wasteful injudicious technology spending --- such as networking equipment, computers, or software they can't actually use -- but they got the windfall $$$ (Probably spent with contractors and "Value-Added" Resellers that are somehow related to someone important in the decision making process), than is spent on resources that directly affect education.

  11. Re:Privacy? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Informative

    We already spend more per student than the rest of the developed world, how much more should we spend? Maybe it's how it's being spent, not now much is being spent...

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    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  12. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by Garfong · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the complaint it sounds like the tracking app was made a requirement a couple months after she was hired. Could you point me to where she agreed to this when she was hired? I can't see it in either the linked article or the complaint.

  13. Re:It was an app on a WORK-Issued Phone! by AdamThor · · Score: 3, Informative

    GP Said:
    There are certain off-work things that an employer should know about - witness the guy who intentionally flew the airliner into the mountain and killed all on board - when it can affect their on-the-clock performance

    You said:
    It's worth noting that the situation you cite has happened exactly once in all recorded history

    Not to be contrary, but pilot suicide is not brand new.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

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    -- "Oh. This guy again."
  14. Re:Privacy? by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe the US of A should put more money into public schools

    The United States spends more per pupil than most other countries with less to show for it. There are many problems with the American education system; a lack of money is not one of them, at least in the aggregate (there are obviously individual school districts that are hard up)

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  15. Re:Privacy? by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 5, Informative

    Where's that money actually GOING though? Odds are it's not getting to the classroom, it's being diverted to administrators' pockets.

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    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
  16. Irrelevant... she signed the contact... end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    This is all irrelevant. She consented to have the app running as a condition of her employment, and she removed it, and got fired. This is a simple cut and dried case. She agreed to the monitoring as part of her job, just like most employees agree to having company E-mail archived for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

  17. Re:Privacy? by rossz · · Score: 3, Informative

    Law enforcement isn't all that dangerous of a job. In fact, it doesn't make the top 10.

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    -- Will program for bandwidth
  18. Re:Privacy? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uhhhh - you're pulling emotional strings here. How about we examine the actual numbers of cops killed, nationwide?

    http://www.nleomf.org/facts/of...

    It doesn't appear that the number of cops killed in a given year in the US has EVER EXCEEDED 300. The highest year on that chart looks like 1974, with 280.

    How does that compare with other occupations? Hmmm . . . .

    Have you ever expressed similar sentiments for logging personnel? Pilots? Fishermen? Truck drivers? (I'll give even odds that you are one of the millions of Americans who INTENTIONALLY CUT TRUCK DRIVERS OFF on a daily basis) How about auto mechanics? Have you ever given a thought to them? Do you think about miners, in the same way you think about cops?

    There are a lot of occupations more dangerous than police work. I get so tired of the cops getting all the glory, all the sympathy - but you have none to spare for the people who keep the cogs of civilization working.

    The 10 Deadliest Jobs:

    1. Logging workers
    2. Fishers and related fishing workers
    3. Aircraft pilot and flight engineers
    4. Roofers
    5. Structural iron and steel workers
    6. Refuse and recyclable material collectors
    7. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
    8. Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers
    9. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
    10. Construction laborers

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/ja...

    You may, of course, find and cite your own sources - but no credible source places police among the most dangerous professions. I, for one, have always resented the damned cops for asserting that they are in a dangerous profession. They lie, and the gullible public believes them. And NONE OF YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT US WHO DO DANGEROUS WORK!!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  19. Re:Easy solution by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Informative

    Read the first sentence of the article

    A Central California woman claims she was fired after uninstalling an app that her employer required her to run constantly on her company issued iPhone—an app that tracked her every move 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    Yes. I read that afterwords. It seems to contradict the text of the legal complaint. My experience of journalists biases me to the legal complaint as probably being closer to the truth. But it's a clear contradiction between the two texts.

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    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  20. Re:first, don't let them put their shit on YOUR ph by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Informative

    Don't you mean, "She should have left the work phone at the office"?

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    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  21. Re:Privacy? by t0rkm3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, that's funny. For instance, I happen to have moved (recently) to a predominantly white suburb that boasts a very large and well rated school system.

    The schools in urban baltimore spend almost twice as much per student. Adjusting for cost of living/doing business this would still leave a considerable +55% buffer on expenses. Given that the school near us boasts 15 languages with 4 yr programs and a football stadium larger than most universities, I am baffled as to what the BWI schools are spending their money on.

    1. Meals?
    2. Material costs due to vandalism?
    3. Security procedures due to higher studentstudent violence rates?

    After reading the budget and balance sheets, one of the significant differences that I noticed were property taxes... I don't have time to calculate the percentage affecting each student, but it seems ironic to find that the schools themselves are victim to the same pressures that spur some households and businesses to relocate outside the city.