Temp. Employer searched my Blackberry phone

I was placed by a temporary employment agency at a company to do administrative work.  The company is a franchising house for real estate brokerage.  I left my non working Blackberry phone on the desk I was assigned overnight.  The following morning it was missing from the desk.  The next following day I was told by the company they were ending my assignment early due to conflict of interest.  I'm also a license real estate agent, but not currently working in the field.  I saw a manger with my phone in his hands and give it to an H/R representative.  I know he went through my phone which is my personal property.  There would be no other way of this company knowing I have a real estate license.  When I applied at the staffing agency, I made them fully aware that I have a license but was not actively working as a sales representative.  The staffing agency sent me on two seperate interviews with this brokerage house.  I thought they sent me there due to the fact that I have real estate knowledge.  Do I have any recourse with the company and or the staffing firm?  I was promised employment for a 4 month assignment.   

Firing you because they discovered what they believe to be a conflict of interest is legal. And honestly, if you thought your real estate expertise was a plus why didn't you tell them about your license? 

There actually are other ways to find out about your license. Like contacting the state agency that licenses you. However, it certainly does seem suspicious. The question is whether leaving the device out on your desk (and apprently not password protected in any way) is any different from leaving a document on your desk with the same information. WHile I think going through your blackberry was not good and may have crossed a line, the question then becaomes what difference does that make? And the answer is probably none. Your termination was still legal, regardless of how they discovered the information.

Leave your stuff out unattended and it's fair game.

Just to be clear, you weren't hired by this company, you say you had an "assignment".  That means the "staffing agency" is your employer and the company was their client.  Neither here nor there.

You should have a passcode feature activated on your electronic devices.  When you leave something lying around, the person is free to argue that they were trying to find out who it belongs to and X-Y-Z just so happened to be open. 

"There would be no other way of this company knowing I have a real estate license."

Nonsense, since it would be a matter of public record.

"When I applied at the staffing agency, I made them fully aware that I have a license but was not actively working as a sales representative."

And how do you know someone at the agency didn't belatedly tell them, esp. given you go on to say "I thought they sent me there due to the fact that I have real estate knowledge.:  :)

"Do I have any recourse with the company and or the staffing firm?"

You don't say what you mean as to your employer (staffing firm); presumably you discussed it with them and asked for another assignment.  You don't say they fired you.

"I was promised employment for a 4 month assignment."

Staffing/temp agency employers in particular are populated by folks who only care about their commission.  You would do best to take anything you are told with a grain of salt, as though it were being told to you by some used car salesman.

The blackberry was inside a protective case.  they would have had to remove it from the case to view the contact information.

In my experience, for a temp job as you describe, leaving a phone on the desk is, to put it nicely, not a very good idea!

Why did you do that?

I've worked many contract jobs.  I bring in my laptop, and powercord, without a bag, and my cell is always in my pocket.

Did they go too far, in my opinion, ABSOLUTELY

But, I also think it was foolish to leave that phone behind.  I never even dared have a closed bag coming and going in and out when I did contract work.  It just made it easier for me to get past the security desk.  They could see with their eye all I was carrying.

LynnM,

"Firing you because they discovered what they believe to be a conflict of interest is legal." 

  **I was not fired, the company ended my temp. assignment early.** 

"And honestly, if you thought your real estate expertise was a plus why didn't you tell them about your license?"

** The staffing agency that placed me there was well aware that I'm in current good standing with the Banking and Insurance Division of NJ.  The staffing agency sent me on two seperate interviews with this company.  I also registered myself directly with the company I was placed at on their careers section of their web site. **

"However, it certainly does seem suspicious. The question is whether leaving the device out on your desk (and apprently not password protected in any way) is any different from leaving a document on your desk with the same information. WHile I think going through your blackberry was not good and may have crossed a line, the question then becaomes what difference does that make? And the answer is probably none."

**The Blackberry was an inactive phone (non-usuable and not ringing) AND was inside a protective cover.  Hence, it means someone REMOVED it from the protective cover and from the desk.**

It's illegal to remove and search someones personal property; if they had suspected something, instead of taking matters in their own hands, they should have called the police first. 

But being that you say you are a lawyer, you should know this.....so unless you can prove that you are who you say you are, you are just another troll on the internet hiding behind a computer screen.  You may not even be LynnM.

They took the phone off the desk during my working hours - basically someone stole it.

Chancey1

"You don't say what you mean as to your employer (staffing firm); presumably you discussed it with them and asked for another assignment. You don't say they fired you."

**I told the company I was placed at that the staffing agency was aware that I have a RE license. After this happened, the staffing agency said they can not work with me anymore.**

If you are doing temp assignments, I would NOT be leaving my cell phone floating around on my desk.  You go in with exactly what you need to do the job, and you leave with it. 

Maybe this company was completely in the wrong.  But if you do that again, it may happen again.

What if you left your wallet out on the desk?  A $100 bill?  You just shouldn't be leaving things like that floating on a desk.

Just my opinion.

danah:

But being that you say you are a lawyer, you should know this.....so unless you can prove that you are who you say you are, you are just another troll on the internet hiding behind a computer screen.  You may not even be LynnM.

Typical shoot the messenger response.

"Troll" = One who posts a question, gets answers, doesn't like the answers, and then proceeds to argue with and insult the people who provide the answers.

Perhaps you'd like the answers better if you went to a lawyers office, plunked down a nice be wad of cash for the retainer and told the lawyer your story.

Gee. I'm crushed.

danah:

It's illegal to remove and search someones personal property; if they had suspected something, instead of taking matters in their own hands, they should have called the police first. 

Let's break this down. They took the phone. Unless they had an intent to permanently deprive you of it, it wasn't theft. Without knowing their reasons for taking the phone and looking at it, it's impossible to say what, if any, crime was committed. But let's say for the sake of argument they did steal it. You remedy is (1) file a criminal complaint with the police and (2) sue for the return of the phone or the value of the phone. If they gave you back the phone, you are left with just (1). My bet is that the police wouldn't care to pursue it, but you are free to make the complaint if you wish. Should that get back to the staffing agency employing you, they may not be happy about it, so take that into consideration.

But even if they "stole" the phone, the fact that they discovered your license from looking at the phone and terminated your assignment early is still not illegal. There is nothing wrong about terminating the assignment except to the extent that it it violates any contract with the staffing agency, and that would be a matter between the staffing agency and its client. It wouldn't involve you and would give you no civil claim against the company.

danah:

But being that you say you are a lawyer, you should know this.....so unless you can prove that you are who you say you are, you are just another troll on the internet hiding behind a computer screen.  You may not even be LynnM.

So, while you didn't like Lynn's answer, it was correct. Even if it was wrong for them to take the phone, that does not translate into making it wrong to terminate the assignment early. Sorry that's not what you thought the law was, but your attack on others just because you didn't hear what you wanted is uncalled for.

danah:

....so unless you can prove that you are who you say you are, you are just another troll on the internet hiding behind a computer screen.  You may not even be LynnM.

When you boil it all down, how can any of us really know that we are who we say we are.

Harry,

So sublime, and also profound.......