Dr. Ortega Case Study

In 1981, an official at a hospital, suspected improprieties by Dr. Ortega’s in his management of a residency program. Hospital officials conducted an investigation, which involved numerous searches of his office and the seizure of a several of items as evidence. The evidence was later used at California State Personnel Board proceedings, to impeach the credibility of witnesses that testified on behalf of Dr. Ortega's. Dr. Ortega later filed suit in federal court alleging that the search conducted by hospital officials violated the Fourth Amendment. The district court made a summary judgment, and ruled the search was proper. Dr. Ortega appealed, to the circuit court; it ruled that the search did violate the Fourth Amendment. The appeal court

remanded the case for a determination of damages.

Was the search a violation of the "reasonable expectation of privacy" provided in the Fourth Amendment?

No

Affirmed and remanded. The search did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

The Supreme Court found both lower courts to be in error, and held that "the realities of the workplace" made expectations of privacy for public employees unreasonable under an employer’s intrusion and not by law enforcement. Public employers are held not held to a probable cause standard, as would law enforcement officials. A public employer is held to a less strict reasonable standard. Public employers’ searches are lawful if conducted for non-investigatory and work related matters to include work related misconduct. The search will be considered reasonable if the searches related to the objective of The intrusion.. The searches are "merely incident to the primary business of the agency," and meeting a warrant requirement would "seriously disrupt the routine conduct of business." The standard of "reasonableness" was sufficient for the work-related intrusion by public employer.