My old Sergeant said you can be sued by anybody, anytime, for anything. The latest example comes from the former Taco Bell executive, who beat a cab driver in a drunken rage. The event was captured on video and made it on the Internet. In an example of Lawsuit Abuse, the drunk is now suing the cab driver.

He asking for $5 million because other employers are not interested in employing people perceived as drunken bullies.  One cause for action is that he did not consent to being recorded.

The ultimate irony is that the plaintiff was in a drunken blackout and has no recollection of any of the events recorded.  I don’t know what the law is in the state where this occurred. In Texas, as long as one party consents to the recording and is present there is no problem.

Most states with bans or restrictions on electronic monitoring usually have a phrase such as “a reasonable expectation of privacy.” This language found it’s way into a Supreme Court decision dealing with birth control (Griswold v Conn) and from there into an electronic monitoring case (Katz v US) and eventually to any search and seizure case that sought to balance the interests of the individual with those of society.

What’s it mean?  There are certain things that are acceptable to society at large, no matter what an individual’s view happens to be. Wearing pants made of saran wrap may be liberating but the individual that does so does not have a valid complaint when they are arrested for indecent exposure.

In the view of the bully, he claims that he was recorded illegally.  The camera is on the dash in plain view.  Cameras are increasingly common on public transportation. The bully’s intoxication does not excuse the fact that he didn’t see the camera.  Look at the action outside of the car.  It is a downtown street there is a storefront behind the car.  We have no insight as to what may be in front of the car. More stores?  How many of these businesses have surveillance cameras.  With a digital system images outside of the camera’s normal focus may be enhanced. The reality is, if you are walking down a city street you are on somebody’s video. Chances are nobody will ever see it; unless you pick your nose, get run over by a car, or hit by a meteor.

If you are in public or in the view of the public your expectation of privacy is diminished.