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Judge throws out parts of N.C. workplace undercover law

The plaintiffs argued it stifled their ability to investigate employers for illegal or unethical conduct.
Credit: PromesaArtStudio, Thinkstock

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge has thrown out portions of a North Carolina law designed to discourage undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or footage. 

Several animal rights groups sued state officials for a 2015 law that provides civil penalties and damages against people whom bill supporters labeled as purposefully getting jobs to steal company secrets or record purported maltreatment. 

The plaintiffs argued it stifled their ability to investigate employers for illegal or unethical conduct. 

U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder of Winston-Salem wrote Friday that four subsections of the law violated the First Amendment rights of the groups.

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