Probably none that you can take as an individual. Your workplace is not owned by you, it is owned by your employer. Essentially, you have no right to privacy in the workplace. Now that doesn't mean you don't have the right to fuss if you catch an authorized individual leafing through your personnel file. . . The "right to privacy" argument has been made--employers monitoring the phone and computer use of employees is what comes to mind. Unfortunately, there is not enough information here to answer the question accurately: We don't know what the employee did to invade your privacy--I am guessing that this question is related to the one about the desk and trash can search in this same section of AB. We do not know what your employer's policy is regarding such an action by a co-worker. If there even is a policy I am sure it is diciplenary and internal and not subject to legalities. We do not know why a co-worker would do such a thing. If their intent was to steal or copy work you had done on "X", that work belongs to the company you work for and not you. It would be up to your employer to decide how to deal with the situation. You might have some recourse if the co-worker was looking to steal something you owned (like a purse or wallet). . .you could choose to contact the police to report the theft and that would qualify as a legal step. We don't know what the nature of your work or workplace is. This gets complicated. For example, if you were a government employee and you caught a contract employee rummaging around your office, then there very well could be legal ramifications in the right situation. Contractors often have to recompete at intervals and rummaging through that gov. desk could infer that they were looking to gain an upper hand over a competitor at the next recompete. This probably makes no or little sense to a lot of people, but in the Defense industry this does happen and it isn't pretty when it does. If this sounds "Greek" to you or does not apply to your situation, you are more than welcome to forget I said anything about this scenario. The best you could probably do is report the incident to your boss and hope they put a stop to such behavior. Unfortunately, I think that is all you as an individual can do. I sympathize with you, the behavior of a co-worker who would do such a thing is inappropriate and in extremely poor taste. I hope this answer helps :) However, this is from http://www.nolo.com from their Human Resources section in employment law. WORKPLACE SEARCHES: If you believe a worker might be engaging in misconduct in the workplace, you will probably have to look into it. Here are some tips on how to conduct a search without violating your workers' right to privacy. It happens to even the best employers: a sudden rash of thefts, a worker threatening violence or some other possible misconduct or illegal activity in your workplace. Your first step must be to investigate the situation. (For tips on how to conduct an investigation, see Guidelines for Handling Discrimination and Harassment Complaints). As part of your investigation, you might even want to search a worker's desk or locker, install some kind of monitoring device (a camera or recorder, for example) or ask to look inside an employee's purse or backpack. How can you get the information you need without violating your workers' right to privacy? Reasonable Expectations of Privacy: When judges evaluate whether a particular search is legal, they must balance two competing concerns. On the one hand, the law considers the employer's justification for performing the search: an employer with a valid, strong and work-related reason for searching has the best chance of prevailing. For example, an employer who receives a complaint that a worker has a gun in his locker and has threatened to use it has a strong basis for a locker search. On the other hand, the law considers the worker's reasonable expectations of privacy. A worker who legitimately expects, based on the employer's policies, past practice and common sense, that the employer will not search certain areas has the strongest argument here. For example, a worker has a high expectation of privacy in the employee restroom or a changing area, particularly if the employer has not warned workers that these areas might be monitored. How do courts decide? They have to consider the relative strengths of these two competing interests. The more steps an employer takes to diminish their workers' expectations of privacy and the stronger the employer's reason to search, the more likely a court is to find the search legal. Search Considerations: Privacy is a highly volatile area of law. Every year, workers bring lawsuits claiming that an employer invaded their privacy by conducting an improper search. The outcome of these cases depends on the judge's view of the worker's misconduct and the employer's methods for getting to the bottom of things. Because there are no legal guarantees in this area of law, you would be well advised to talk to a lawyer before conducting any but the most routine searches. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind: Search only if necessary. In many companies, there will rarely be a need to search. Unless your employees routinely handle large amounts of money or valuable and easily-hidden items (such as prescription drugs or jewelry), you may not need to search at all. If you do want to conduct a search, make sure you have a legitimate business reason (theft, for example). If you plan to search, have a policy. If you warn your employees in advance that certain areas (like desks or lockers) might be subject to search, employees will have lower expectations of privacy in those areas -- and less reason to complain about a particular search. Don't conduct random searches. Courts tend to frown on employers who conduct random searches of their workers, even if the employer's policy puts employees on notice of this possibility. These searches, particularly if conducted when the employer has no reason to suspect any wrongdoing, can get employers into trouble. Never search an employee's body. Some employers become so zealous in their investigative efforts that they want to conduct physical searches of their workers for contraband or stolen items. This is always a bad idea. Your worker has a very strong privacy interest in his or her own body. If you have strong and legitimate concerns, consider calling the police to take it to the next level. Restrooms and changing rooms are generally off limits. Most workers legitimately expect that they will not be filmed while sitting on the toilet or changing their clothes. This expectation is highly reasonable. If you must monitor these areas, warn your employees and monitor only to the extent necessary. For example, if you have received reports that some employees are selling illegal drugs in the restroom, you might install a camera or post a guard in the main part of the room, after notifying your workers. However, you would probably be going too far if you posted cameras in each stall. Consider the worker's privacy expectations. Before you search, think about whether an average worker would consider a particular space private in your workplace. Do your employees routinely lock their desk drawers? If so, they might have higher privacy expectations. On the other hand, if no one has an assigned desk in your office, or if workers routinely use each other's desks, an unlocked drawer is not as private. Don't hold employees against their will. Some employers detain workers in connection with a search -- to keep the worker out of the area being searched, for example, or to exert a little pressure on the worker to consent to a search ("No one is leaving this room until you show me what's in your backpack!") This is a bad idea. Under a legal theory called "false imprisonment," an employee can sue an employer who leads the employee to believe that she is not free to leave. Although these claims often come up in the context of questioning (when employers refuse to let their employees leave the workplace until they have answered certain questions, for example), they also surface when searches are conducted.