The state’s highest court will tomorrow hear arguments in a New York Civil Liberties Union case challenging New York State’s warrantless planting of a GPS tracking device on a government employee’s personal car.

The device, planted as part of an investigation into workplace misconduct, tracked the whereabouts of 30-year Department of Labor employee Michael Cunningham and his family on their personal car for at least a month, including during evenings, weekends and while the family went on vacation out of state.

“Your boss can’t sit in the backseat of your car and watch you, your wife and your children 24 hours a day. But depending on what happens with this case, that could be the reality for New York State’s more than 200,000 government employees,” said NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Corey Stoughton, lead counsel on the case.

On June 3, 2008, at the Department of Labor’s request, investigators for the office of the State Inspector General placed a GPS tracking device on Cunningham’s family car. It was planted for the purpose of investigating whether Cunningham accurately filled out his time sheets. In all, his family car was tracked 24 hours a day in June and July of 2008, including during a weeklong family vacation in Massachusetts.

Based on evidence gathered by the GPS device, the DOL sought to fire Cunningham, whose job title was director of the staff and organization development. At proceedings to determine the validity of the dismissal, a hearing officer considered the GPS evidence over Cunningham’s objections. The officer relied on that evidence to uphold Cunningham’s dismissal, referencing the GPS data more than 20 times in his findings. Cunningham was issued a notice of termination on Aug. 24, 2010. The NYCLU’s lawsuit was filed later that year.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that DOL’s warrantless use of a GPS device to track Cunningham’s personal car violated the New York State Constitution’s guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures.

In May 2009, the Court of Appeals ruled in People v. Weaver that police must obtain a warrant before using a GPS device to track criminal suspects. The NYCLU filed an amicus brief in that case.

WHAT:
Oral Argument in Cunningham v. New York State Department of Labor before the State Court of Appeals

WHERE:
State of New York Court of Appeals, 20 Eagle St., Albany or watch online live at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/CTAPPS/index.htm

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 29 at 2 p.m.