By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The "Legal Question of the Week" is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors. Please submit your questions to: legalmailbag@casciac.org.

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Dear Legal Mailbag:

Given the budget problems, we will be cut one administrator next year, and frankly I am concerned that we may have difficulty in supervising our building properly. I have some money left over from a federal school safety grant, and I would like to install cameras in the hallways to make sure that teachers are on their duty posts as assigned. I also want to install a camera in the teachers’ lounge, so that I can keep tabs on who is available, should I need coverage. With these cameras, I will be able to keep an eye on things from the comfort of my office. Do you see any problems with this?

Signed,
Big Brother is Watching


Hey Bro:

You win this week’s award for the worst idea ever. I can only imagine the reaction of the teachers as they find themselves under constant surveillance. But setting aside the question of poor judgment, you have raised (at least) two significant legal issues.

First, while school officials are free to install cameras in common areas for security purposes, here your avowed purpose is to keep an eye on teachers. General surveillance of employees, however, is a mandatory subject of negotiations. Simply installing such cameras for the purpose described would be an unfair labor practice. The unions representing the affected employees would have the right to negotiate with you over whether you can install such cameras for that purpose. Good luck with those negotiations!

Second, your proposal to install a camera in the teachers’ lounge is flat-out illegal. Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 31-48b(b) provides: “(b) No employer or agent or representative of an employer shall operate any electronic surveillance device or system, including but not limited to the recording of sound or voice or a closed circuit television system, or any combination thereof, for the purpose of recording or monitoring the activities of his employees in areas designed for the health or personal comfort of the employees or for safeguarding of their possessions, such as rest rooms, locker rooms or lounges.” The teacher lounge is off-limits to your prying eyes, even if you try to negotiate over your plan otherwise. I suggest that you get out of your chair and walk around your building. You might even lose some weight.