Woman Sues Former Employer After This Creepy Invasion of Privacy

What would you do if you found out that the GPS-enabled app your boss requires you to use for work was actually tracking all of your movements 24/7? One California woman found herself in that very predicament, and for her the decision was clear–she deleted the app. Now she claims that decision unfairly cost her her job, and she’s filed a lawsuit to that effect.

According to ARS Technica, when Myrna Arias worked as a sales rep for the wire-transfer company Intermex her employer required her to download the job management app Xora onto her smartphone. It wasn’t until later, after she had begun researching the app and spoke with a trainer from Xora, that she and her co-workers questioned if the company was actually monitoring their movements while off duty.

Here is a video demonstration of how Xora is able to track employees using the app.

According to the lawsuit her boss John Stubits admitted to Arias that he tracked her movements off-duty and even “bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments.” It goes on to claim:

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.

Following that encounter Arias decided to uninstall the app in late April 2014 in order to protect her privacy, but was scolded by her boss as a result. Then, just a few weeks after being reprimanded she was fired. Arias credits her decision to delete the app as the sole reason for her termination.

The suit is accusing Intermex of invasion of privacy, retaliation, unfair business practices, wrongful termination, and others allegations, and is asking for damages “in excess of $500,000” reports ARS Technica.

The law is a little unclear when it comes to the legality of tracking employees for professional purposes. According to Gizmodo, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced a bill last year called the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2014 that included a stipulation that would require companies to inform employees how they monitor them, but the bill didn’t get past a Senate hearing.

Intermex’s constant surveillance of its employees is undoubtedly creepy, especially when the plaintiff’s boss is joking about his intrusions into personal privacy. Even though Xora appears to have some very practical uses for increasing productivity based on availability, employees using the GPS tracking app shouldn’t have to live in fear of their bosses monitoring them in their free time. This will definitely be a case to watch that could potentially affect the way people protect themselves from stalking apps.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.