Judge: Bag Check Not Part of Workday Because Workers Could Leave Bags at Home
Anyone who has ever waited more than five minutes to go through security at the airport can surely empathize.
November 13, 2015 at 08:29 AM
2 minute read
Anyone who has ever waited more than five minutes to go through security at the airport can surely empathize. According to Michael Kun and Michael Thompson of Epstein Becker & Green, in recent years employees have been suing employers for time spent in security screenings once they are off duty. Just this week, a case against Apple Inc. was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in California for the practice. The judge concluded that the bag searches didn't constitute a duty of the job because they could be avoided if the employees simply didn't bring bags to work.
“To prove that they were subject to the control of Apple during the back checks, the plaintiffs had to show that: Apple restrained their actions during the bag checks and the plaintiffs could not choose to avoid the activity,” say Kun and Thompson. The judge determined that the first element was met when a worker who wanted to leave the store with a bag had to stand in line. But the second element wasn't because the security lines could be avoided by not bringing a bag.
However, Kun and Thompson say the wave of bag check class actions may not be over yet. They note the plaintiffs are likely to appeal, the decision isn't binding on many courts and it's not helpful to employers who require all employees to be screened, whether they have bags or not.
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