Originally Posted by
cxorcist
That’s a sick joke. My uniform is paid for by the Company. Does that mean they have the right to look inside? Are cabin crew not entitled to privacy wrt their personal belongings? Is the Company implicitly encouraging those cabin crew wanting privacy to use their own luggage? I remember watching Saudi customs officials go through women’s luggage and holding up panties while snickering to each other. Is that the type of society we want to live in?
Actually not quite so much and kinda clever (if it’s true) in a sordid way.
At least on an employment contract under US jurisdiction, employee searches are a sticky wicket. Random drug tests (if clearly informed by policy and actually random) are generally allowed. Absent probable cause (and absent bona-fide security concerns) courts generally frown on bag or personal searches even while on company property and it’s a bit of a minefield. A private company search OFF company property of personal effects (like on a jet bridge or common area of an airport) which was not a part of a real customs or LE inspection (and not consensual or based upon probable cause of a crime) would almost certainly violate US law and the company liable for damages. The location where it happened (if it were a private employer) wouldn’t matter; the contract law follows the basing.
On the other hand, the law almost always sides with the employer when it comes to searches of items contained in company property itself (desks, spaces, computers, lockers, etc.—even if a company issued locking device is issued—although one woman prevailed under litigation when she used a private personal lock to lock her locker and the company searched it anyway). And can certainly make a reasonable search a prerequisite to enter company property (as well as refuse or deny access to whom it pleases). This gets a bit stickier when searching personal effects contained within company property (which generally would require probable cause or legitimate security concern).
So by declaring a company bag company property there might not be an expectation of privacy. But I think a real court would likely throw the BS flag when looking at the bigger picture.