Is it Legal to Take and Display Photographs of Staff Nurses?
Question
My nurse manager takes pictures of each staff member and displays them throughout the unit. Is this legal to do, and should we be signing a release form?
Response Individuals have rights with respect to the use of their "likenesses." An individual could successfully sue for invasion of privacy if, through posting of his or her photograph, another individual intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information, publicizes him or her in a false light, or appropriates his or her name for personal gain.
In the employment setting, it is unlikely that any of those conditions apply. Doing one's job is not a private affair, no private information is disclosed, the photographed individual is not put in a false light, and the photograph is not being posted for personal gain but for other reasons. For example, managers might want to ensure patient safety and avoid patient and family anxiety. If staff members' photographs are displayed and identified as employees, then patients and families may safely assume that these individuals are part of the treatment team and not just intruders in the patient's room.
Although an employee is probably not going to be successful in fighting the display of the employee's photograph through a legal proceeding, an employee who doesn't want to have his or her photograph posted can certainly decline to have a photograph taken. An employer has no legal right to take employees' photographs and display them at the work site. It makes sense, from a management point of view, for the employer to get employee approval before photographs are taken and used.
Carolyn Buppert, NP, JD Attorney, Law Office of Carolyn Buppert, PC, Bethesda, Maryland
My nurse manager takes pictures of each staff member and displays them throughout the unit. Is this legal to do, and should we be signing a release form?
Response Individuals have rights with respect to the use of their "likenesses." An individual could successfully sue for invasion of privacy if, through posting of his or her photograph, another individual intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information, publicizes him or her in a false light, or appropriates his or her name for personal gain.
In the employment setting, it is unlikely that any of those conditions apply. Doing one's job is not a private affair, no private information is disclosed, the photographed individual is not put in a false light, and the photograph is not being posted for personal gain but for other reasons. For example, managers might want to ensure patient safety and avoid patient and family anxiety. If staff members' photographs are displayed and identified as employees, then patients and families may safely assume that these individuals are part of the treatment team and not just intruders in the patient's room.
Although an employee is probably not going to be successful in fighting the display of the employee's photograph through a legal proceeding, an employee who doesn't want to have his or her photograph posted can certainly decline to have a photograph taken. An employer has no legal right to take employees' photographs and display them at the work site. It makes sense, from a management point of view, for the employer to get employee approval before photographs are taken and used.
Carolyn Buppert, NP, JD Attorney, Law Office of Carolyn Buppert, PC, Bethesda, Maryland
Saint,
You can never know what people are capable of, eh. There are some really young people who are in nursing these days and I think they share far too, much on Facebook and Twitter for my likings. I hardly take pictures at work and if I do its with my own camara. With me working mostly weekends and night shift, I've rarely run into any problems. You're right... anything is technologically possible today.