Reference no: EM133339352
Case: Joseph Sly is a Federal government employee at the U.S. Department of Labor.He has an obvious crush on co-worker Katrina Simms, who has no interest in him. He keeps showing up in her cubicle and attempting to socialize with her. She keeps telling him that she is busy, but he will not take the hint. He asks her out for lunch frequently and she always tells him she is not interested. One day, Katrina Simms comes into the office after taking an early lunch and observes Joseph Sly in her cubicle taking pictures with his personal cell phone of a portrait of herself on top of her desk. Simms yells at Sly: "What are you doing!" Sly runs across the hall and coworker Chris notices Sly dropping his personal phone in Sly's bottom desk drawer as Sly explains he is going to the gym over lunch.
Katrina Simms complains to Supervisor Brown that she has been harassed and reports the picture taking. Supervisor Brown asks around the office if anyone has seen Sly and learns from coworker Chris that Sly went off to the gym and recounts seeing Sly drop his personal cell phone off in his desk drawer. Supervisor Brown searches Sly's desk and finds his personal cell phone. Sly's phone has no password protection and Supervisor Brown examines the recent pictures taken. He finds the pictures of Ms. Simm's portrait on the phone just as she described it. Supervisor Brown pulls out his own cell phone and with Katrina Simm's permission, takes a picture of the Simms's portrait on Sly's phone. He returns the cell phone to Sly's desk. During the search of Simm's desk drawers he also unexpectedly found paper love letters Sly had yet to send to Simms.
Subsequently, Supervisor Brown calls Sly into his office and asks him to respond to allegations that he was sexually harassing Simms. Sly denies it, stating he has nothing but a professional relationship and merely plutonic feeling towards her. He also denies taking any pictures within Simm's office. Supervisor Bob thereafter proposes the removal of Sly. He is charged with sexual harassment and lying to his supervisor. The pictures taken from Sly's personal cell phone and letters are attached to the proposal. Sly is in shock when he sees the attached evidence. His lawyer argues during the oral reply that neither the pictures nor the letters should be considered by the deciding official when deciding whether to uphold the disciplinary action because they violate Sly's Fourth Amendment rights.
Provide a detailed analysis of Fourth Amendment law as it applies in a government workplace and whether the pictures and letters should be appropriately considered by the Deciding official in taking disciplinary action. Please support this by few cases. May be O'CONNOR V. ORTEGA, CITY OF ONTARIO V. QUON, RILEY V, CALIFORNIA.