Home : Workplace Rights

ACLU Issues Multi-Lingual "Know Your Rights!" Pamphlet to Educate Public (03/12/2002)
NEW YORK--On the heels of a new Justice Department plan to interview thousands of men from Middle Eastern countries, the American Civil Liberties Union today released a pamphlet that offers guidance in seven languages -- including Arabic, Hindi and Spanish -- on what to do when stopped by law enforcement.

Legislative Briefing Kit (03/12/2002)
There are 80 million people employed in the private sector of the American economy. 1 Only about 20 million of these are union members protected from unjust dismissal by collective bargaining agreements. The remaining 60 million are employed "at will". 2 "At will" employees serve at the unfettered discretion of employers. They can be fired for any reason, even a bad one, or for no reason at all. 3

Workplace Drug Testing (03/12/2002)
Today, in some industries, taking a drug test is as routine as filling out a job application. In fact, workplace drug testing is up 277 percent from 1987 - despite the fact that random drug testing is unfair, often inaccurate and unproven as a means of stopping drug use. But because there are few laws protecting our privacy in the workplace, millions of American workers are tested yearly - even though they aren't suspected of drug use. Employers have the right to expect workers not to be high or drunk on the job. But they shouldn't have the right to require employees to prove their innocence by taking a drug test. That's not how America should work.

Sample Op-Ed Column (03/12/2002)
Gail Nelson never wanted to be a porno star. She was shocked when she found out that her employer, Salem State College, had secretly videotaped her changing her clothes in her office after work. Why they did it and how many men have seen the tape she is still trying to find out.

Tools for Affiliates and Activist Organizations (03/12/2002)

Lifestyle Discrimination in the Workplace Your Right to Privacy Under Attack (03/12/2002)
The word "privacy" means many different things to different people. One widely accepted meaning, however, is the right to be left alone. The framers of our Constitution and Bill of Rights certainly embraced that meaning, especially with regard to the sanctity of family life. This cherished right is now under attack, but the government is not the primary culprit. Private employers are using the power of the paycheck to tell their employees what they can and cannot do in the privacy of their own homes. The American Civil Liberties Union believes that what a person does during non-working hours away from the workplace should not be the basis for discrimination.

Tools for Affiliates and Activist Organizations (02/25/2002)

Genetic Discrimination in the Workplace Factsheet (12/31/2000)

Fact Sheet: Henson v. University of Pittsburgh (12/31/1999)

Legislative Briefing Kit: Wrongful Discharge (12/31/1998)

Legislative Briefing Kit: Drug Testing (12/31/1998)

Lifestyle Discrimination in the Workplace: Your Right to Privacy Under Attack (12/31/1998)

Legislative Briefing Kit: Lifestyle Discrimination in the Workplace (12/31/1998)

Legislative Briefing Kit: Electronic Monitoring (12/31/1998)