Plock v. Board of Educ. of Freeport School
Decision Date | 08 December 2009 |
Docket Number | No. 2-08-0879.,2-08-0879. |
Citation | 920 N.E.2d 1087,336 Ill. Dec. 497 |
Parties | Denise PLOCK, Shelly Barth, David Mouri, and Mary Tregloan, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF FREEPORT SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 145, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Paulette A. Petretti, James A. Petrungaro, Scariano, Himes & Petrarca, Chtd., Chicago, IL, for Appellant.
Laurie M. Burgess, Burgess Law Offices, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Appellee.
On April 2, 2007, the plaintiffs, Denise Plock, Shelly Barth, David Mouri, and Mary Tregloan, filed a complaint seeking to enjoin the defendant, the Board of Education of Freeport School District No. 145, from carrying out a proposed policy of operating audio-recording equipment in certain special-education classrooms. The plaintiffs argued, in part, that the proposed audio recordings would violate section 14-2(a)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (hereinafter the Illinois Eavesdropping Act or Act) (720 ILCS 5/14-2(a)(1) (West 2006)). The plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment on their complaint and the defendant filed a cross-motion for declaratory judgment. On August 20, 2008, the trial court entered an order granting the plaintiffs' motion and declaring that the proposed policy violated the Act as a matter of law. The defendant appeals from that order. We affirm.
In or about October 2005, teacher aides, employed by the defendant, reported that a teacher and a classroom aide had engaged in abuse of disabled elementary students in one of the defendant's special-education classrooms. The alleged abuse included both physical and verbal abuse such as screaming at students, blowing whistles directly into students' eardrums, verbally degrading students, force-feeding students, pushing students, slapping students, and abandoning students in the time-out room or bathroom. The defendant conducted an investigation in response to these allegations. Due to the emotional and physical disabilities of the students, the defendant was unable to obtain competent statements from the alleged victims of abuse. Nonetheless, based on eyewitness testimony from the classroom aides, the defendant determined it had sufficient evidence that the teacher and classroom aide involved had violated its policies and procedures. As a result, the teacher and classroom aide resigned from the school district in May 2006.
Despite those resignations, the parents of the defendant's special-education students raised concerns about the safety of their children while attending school. In order to help prevent any further abuse, the parents requested that the defendant install audio- and video-recording equipment in special-education classrooms. As a result, the defendant proposed the installation of security cameras, with audio- and video-recording capabilities, in open and obvious locations limited to "EXCEL" and "Life Skills" special-education classrooms. The defendant's proposed policy included the following conditions: (1) each classroom containing a camera would include a notice regarding the presence and purpose of the camera; (2) the recordings would not be broadcast to a real-time viewing station but would be stored on discs maintained in electronic format; (3) the discs would remain confidential and would not be viewed or broadcast in any form unless and until a complaint of misconduct was initiated; and (4) the discs would be maintained in secured sites, to which only authorized administrators would have access.
The defendant notified the teachers and the aides, both represented by different bargaining units, of its intent to install the audio- and video-recording equipment in the special-education classrooms. The teachers' aides were represented by the United Steelworkers of America, Local Unit No. 745 (USWA), and the teachers were represented by the Freeport Education Association (FEA). The defendant and the USWA reached an agreement to use the audio- and video-recording equipment subject to certain conditions concerning the locations of the devices to be installed and the use of the recordings. However, the defendant was unable to reach an agreement with the FEA. At the end of March 2007, the defendant informed the FEA that, regardless of the lack of an agreement, it intended to commence its proposed recording policy on April 2, 2007.
On April 2, 2007, the plaintiffs filed a two-count complaint in the circuit court of Stephenson County, seeking to enjoin the defendant from carrying out its proposed policy of operating audio-recording equipment in its "EXCEL" and "Life Skills" classrooms. The plaintiffs are special-education teachers, employed by the defendant, who are currently assigned to those special-education classrooms. The plaintiffs did not challenge the proposed video recording of the subject classrooms. In count I, the plaintiffs claimed that the audio recording of the classrooms would violate their fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Count II alleged that the proposed audio recording would violate the Act (720 ILCS 5/14-2(a)(1) (West 2006)). In addition to the complaint, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to prevent the defendant from commencing any audio recording in the subject classrooms pending a final determination on the complaint.
In response to the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction, the defendant voluntarily agreed to refrain from audio taping the classrooms until the completion of this litigation. In response to the plaintiffs' complaint, and based on the fourth amendment claim, the defendant removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (see 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (2006); 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (2006)) and filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. On December 18, 2007, the federal court entered judgment on the pleadings in favor of the defendant on the plaintiffs' fourth amendment claim. Plock v. Board of Education of Freeport School District No. 145, 545 F.Supp.2d 755, 758 (N.D.Ill.2007). In so ruling, the court stated:
Having dismissed the federal claim, the court remanded the plaintiffs' eavesdropping claim back to the circuit court of Stephenson County. Plock, 545 F.Supp.2d at 758.
On May 2, 2008, upon remand to the circuit court, the defendant filed a motion for leave to file a counterclaim for declaratory judgment "in order to obtain a swift declaration * * * concerning the interpretation and application of the Illinois Eavesdropping Act as a matter of law." (Emphasis in original.) On May 9, 2008, the plaintiffs filed a response to the defendant's motion, objecting to the defendant filing such a counterclaim a year after it had filed its answer to the plaintiffs' complaint. Nonetheless, the plaintiffs agreed with the defendant's request to seek a declaration from the trial court as to whether the proposed audio-taping policy violated the Act. Consequently, on that same date, the plaintiffs also filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to section 2-1005(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-1005(a) (West 2006)), arguing that the undisputed material facts established as a matter of law that the defendant's proposed audio-taping policy violated the Act. The plaintiffs' prayer for relief requested an injunction prohibiting the defendant from making audio recordings in the subject classrooms.
On May 30, 2008, the parties presented argument regarding their pending motions. During that hearing both parties agreed that they were seeking an adjudication of the legal issue of whether the Act applied in the subject classrooms. The plaintiffs orally withdrew their motion for summary judgment and indicated that they would file a new motion for summary judgment requesting a declaratory judgment. The plaintiffs also indicated that they would remove their request for injunctive relief. Thereafter, the trial court denied without prejudice the defendant's motion to file a counterclaim for declaratory judgment and indicated that the case would proceed based on the plaintiffs' motion where the defendant would have an opportunity to file a cross-motion for declaratory judgment.
On June 9, 2008, the plaintiffs filed their motion for summary judgment, striking their request for injunctive relief and seeking a declaration that the defendant's audio-taping policy, if implemented, would violate the Act as a matter of law. On June 19, 2008, the defendant filed a response and a cross-motion for declaratory judgment on the pleadings, affirming that it was seeking a declaration that the Act could not be invoked to prohibit the use of audio-taping equipment in public classrooms. On August 20, 2008, following a hearing, the trial court issued a memorandum opinion and order. The trial court determined that audio taping in the classrooms at issue would violate the Act. Accordingly, the trial court granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and denied the defendant's motion for declaratory judgment.
On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in granting the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. Additionally, the defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant leave to file its counterclaim for declaratory judgment, engage in discovery, and appear at an evidentiary...
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