Biby v. Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Gerald Biby (plaintiff) worked for the University of Nebraska (university), a public employer. The university had a privacy policy stating that an employee could expect that information on the employee’s work computer was private unless the university needed to repair the equipment, investigate illegal activity, or respond to a legal request for documents as part of a lawsuit or similar legal action. Biby was involved in developing and licensing a biodegradable product owned by the university. A legal dispute arose about the product’s license, and the dispute was submitted to arbitration. As part of the arbitration process, the university was required to produce the documents in its possession relating to the licensing dispute. The university asked Biby to provide consent to search his work computer, but he refused. Biby believed that the university was in the wrong regarding the dispute and that the university was setting his department up to take a fall for the problem. Eventually, the university told Biby that it was searching his computer for litigation-related files without his consent, and Biby participated in this search. The university’s search was limited to terms relating to the arbitration. Biby was later terminated for misconduct relating to the licensing dispute. Biby sued the university’s board of regents and university officials (defendants), claiming that the university’s search of his work computer had unlawfully invaded his privacy. The district court granted summary judgment to the university and dismissed Biby’s privacy claims. Biby appealed the dismissal to the Eighth Circuit.