Public Works employee sues over GPS use

City of Modesto administrators placed a satellite tracking device on a truck assigned to a Public Works Department employee four months after he became the leader of the Modesto City Employees Association, confidential records show.

MCEA President Tom McCarthy is in the midst of a complaint against the city that he filed with the state labor board. He claims the city tried to interfere with union activ-ity in violation of state law, and he wants the city to rescind a threatened 10-day suspension.

City officials in the Public Works and Personnel departments took steps to investigate McCarthy's work activity because they were concerned he did not correctly record the time he took off for union work, e-mails show.

They also said McCarthy did not give his supervisors enough notice in advance of his MCEA work.

McCarthy disputes the claims, which led to the suspension threat.

In 2006, McCarthy drove a city vehicle for work marking sewer lines during maintenance projects. The global positioning system records tracked his work, noting his location and which truck he drove.

"Obviously, the city must be able to act to make sure all employees are doing their job, whether it's a street sweeper or the city manager," City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood said. She would not go into further detail because the matter is pending before the state Public Employment Relations Board.

The union's attorney obtained the tracking records while researching the complaint. Until that point, McCarthy did not know his movements had been monitored.

The union attorney also got documents that show the city planned to assign a private investigator to watch McCarthy work.

The city has an open contract with an investigator who handles sensitive allegations of employee misconduct in several departments. The City Council approved the contract in June 2006.

The attorneys for the city and the union are filing their final briefs in the complaint to the labor board. They expect a decision in September.

Second worker monitored

The GPS records show the city began monitoring waste-water services vehicles used by McCarthy and a truck used by another waste-water employee on April 10, 2006, three days after MCEA submitted an unfair practice charge against the city's bargaining team. E-mails show the device was removed in November 2006.

The other waste-water employee is not pursuing a complaint against the city.

McCarthy's complaint shows he was threatened with the suspension Dec. 1, 2006, for not notifying his supervisors of his meetings for the 440-member union. That disciplinary action was based on McCarthy's activities through June 2006.

McCarthy went to more city meetings than usual that spring for several reasons, one of which was that MCEA was changing attorneys and the union wanted a board member at every meeting its previous lawyer attended.

McCarthy is paid for his union work through an MCEA time bank.

Joe Rose, the union attorney representing McCarthy, acknowledged that public employees shouldn't expect a right to privacy while working in city vehicles. But he said the monitoring seemed directed at gathering information about MCEA.

"We think we've proven they wanted to do it to monitor his activity as a union leader," Rose said. "If those were the motives, to monitor (McCarthy's) union activities, then I do think it was improper for them to monitor him."

E-mails Rose obtained show senior-level Public Works administrators who no longer work for the city communicating with employees in the city's Personnel Department about the GPS device.