INFORMATION

Site Map - Beyond Print

Emergency Management

- The federal government offers a succinct checklist document to ensure that emergency shelters are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Fatigue

- A new ASIS Foundation CRISP report takes a look at the problem of fatigue, and how it can particularly affect those in security positions.

Religious Discrimination

- A couple hired to manage a housing complex may sue their employer for religious discrimination and failure to accommodate their religious beliefs after they were fired for refusing to remove a piece of religious artwork from their office, a federal appeals court has ruled. The court ruled that the housing complex must demonstrate why it could not meet a request to accommodate the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs.

Employment

- A contentious workplace and abrasive supervisor do not rise to the level of employment discrimination, according to a federal appeals court. A new supervisor whose “tough, insensitive, and unfair” behavior was seen as discriminatory by female employees was judged to have been unpleasant to everyone and, thus, not guilty of discrimination.

Search Warrant

- Police do not need a warrant to search the text messages on the cell phone of a suspect, the California Supreme Court has ruled. In the case, law enforcement officers arrested Gregory Diaz on suspicion of purchasing Ecstasy. Once Diaz was in custody, officers seized his cell phone and found evidence to support charges of drug dealing.

Smart Grid Security

- A new set of guidelines, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, aims to strengthen smart grid security (.pdf).

Emergency Operations

- FEMA recently updated its comprehensive preparedness guide (.pdf) for developing and maintaining emergency operations plans.

Privacy

- An employee’s e-mails to her attorney are not privileged because she sent them over the company’s e-mail system, a California appellate court has ruled (.pdf). The employee had no expectation of privacy, ruled the court, because the company had clearly noted that e-mails were not private and could be inspected at any time.

Privacy

- The Supreme Court of Texas has ruled that the state may withhold the birth dates of employees. In the case, reporters from The Dallas Morning News sued the state when it refused to release employee birth dates, citing a rise in identity theft and a need to protect employee privacy. The newspaper argued that other courts have ruled that the birth dates of state employees are public records.

School Safety

- Schools are not doing a good job of screening employees to avoid hiring those with records of sexual abuse of children (.pdf), says a report from the Government Accountability Office.

Laptop Security

- Depending on the industry they work in, employees have a 5 to 10 percent chance of losing their laptop or having it stolen over a three-year period, according to a new study. Most missing devices do not use basic security measures such as encryption.

Workplace Safety

- A driver who was fired after refusing to drive a truck that he considered unsafe is not protected under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. OSHA rules make it illegal to fire a commercial truck driver for refusing to operate an unsafe vehicle. The driver, ruled the court, was not fired for his safety concerns but for his volatile and hostile attitude when he complained.

Cyberdefense

- Small businesses are not immune to cybercrime. Visa and the National Cyber Security Alliance offer resources to help small businesses secure their online activities. More guidance is available from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s small business site.