Video Tape Made In Violation Of Education Code 51512 May Be Used By District In Investigating Complaint Against Teacher
[Evens v. Los Angeles Unified School District
(00 C.D.O.S. 19)]
Education Code Section 51512 provides:
"The Legislature finds that the use by any person, including a pupil, of any electronic listening or recording device in any classroom of the elementary and secondary schools without the prior consent of the teacher and the principal of the school given to promote an educational purpose disrupts and impairs the teaching process and discipline in the elementary and secondary schools, and such use is prohibited. Any person other than a pupil, who willfully violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.Any pupil violating this section shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.
This section shall not be construed as affecting the powers, rights and liabilities arising from the use of electronic listening or recording devices a provided for by any other provision of law."
In this case, two students secretly video taped a teacher’s class. The video tape was then given to the school district in support of a complaint against the teacher. The teacher and the United Teachers of Los Angeles filed suit seeking to prevent the District from using the tape based on Education Code Section 51512.
The Appellate Court first rejected the argument that the California privacy laws prohibited use of the tape. The Court explained:
"Communications and activities on the part of a teacher will virtually never be confined to the classroom. Students will, and usually do, discuss a teachers’s communications and activities with their parents, other students, other teachers and administrators. This is especially true when a student believes that the teacher is guilty of misconduct. A teacher must always expect ‘public dissemination’ of his or her classroom ‘communications and activities.’ We conclude, therefore, that California’s privacy laws do not apply under the circumstances of this case."In regard to the argument that Section 51512 prohibits the use of the tape, the court held:
"The problem, of course, is that the Legislature has spoken. Section 51512 simply states that use of an electronic listening or recording device in a classroom is disruptive and impairs the teaching process and discipline in schools. Section 51512 does not state, nor does it imply, that videotapes such as the one made there cannot be used by school officials in review whether a teacher should be disciplined. To the extent Evens and United Teachers contend that Section 51512 should be amended to specifically make such a statement, this is a matter best taken up with the Legislature."
