Man's Firing Puts Employee Privacy In Question

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GRAFTON, Mass. (CBSMiami) – A worker was fired after being accused of sleeping on the job. But the way he was caught could have his company in hot water and several employees facing criminal charges.

Mark Ferguson said he found a hidden camera aimed at his office space.

"You feel violated," he said.

Ferguson discovered the camera while working his overnight shift at metal manufacturer in Massachusetts.

He believes his campaign for union president was the reason management wanted to keep an eye on him.

In April, the company fired Ferguson accusing him of sleeping on the job with the video evidence to prove it.

But little did his bosses know, Ferguson had spotted the camera and taken it home for a closer look.

"I'm thinking what my 13-year-old son said, 'Dad, this is against the law.'" Ferguson said.

The company, Wyman-Gordon, wouldn't talk to the media about the hidden camera – calling it a personnel issue and would not allow TV crews to take video of their building.

In Florida, if the camera recorded audio at work without consent that would be a violation of Florida law and it is also a violation of Massachusetts law which is why Ferguson took it to the police.

"This wasn't profession in any manner. This was spying," he said.

Here's the reality, at almost any workplace around the country these days, whether it's obvious or not, there's a good chance you're being watched in almost every area of the building.

Cullin O'Brien, a civil litigation attorney in Florida, says, generally speaking, Florida and the federal government have wire-tapping laws.

"Generally speaking, if you secretly record someone by audio you're subject to wire-tapping statue. Audio is different than video," says O'Brien.

In most cases, courts tend to side with businesses in privacy cases.

Some workers are fighting back.

This summer, two dozen police officers at the VA Medical Center in Washington D.C. filed a federal lawsuit claiming their bosses planted these hidden recording devices at work.

Ferguson is now speaking out to get his job back. He argues the evidence used to fire him was gathered illegally.

He said, "They knew what they were doing. They never thought for once, though, that I would find the camera. They would be dumb enough to turn the camera on while they were setting the camera up."

Ferguson will most likely have his day in court.

In Florida, it is against the law to record audio without consent.