APS accused of recording staff

Lawsuit filed by 2 employees says district violated wiretap act

Two Albuquerque Public Schools employees say the district hired a private investigator to install hidden surveillance equipment in their work space in order to listen in on their conversations, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month.

Bobbie Gallegos and Regina Sanchez argue that intercepting their communications is a violation of the Federal Wiretap Act. They say the surveillance “went beyond the bounds of common decency,” violated their expectation of privacy and caused “severe emotional distress.”

APS invoices dated July 5, 2016, obtained by the plaintiffs’ attorney show the district paid Robert Caswell Investigations Inc. $1,007 for “Surveillance Ref: Bobbie Gallegos.”

Attorney Antonia Roybal-Mack, who is representing Gallegos and Sanchez, said the women are longtime APS employees who worked in the district’s testing center doing data entry.

According to the lawsuit filed Nov. 17 in state District Court, Gallegos found white debris on her desk on Aug. 17, 2016, and noticed a ceiling tile above her was askew.

She grabbed a ladder in order to fix the tile and discovered a recording device. She and Sanchez then found a second device attached to the bottom of a desk.

Both items were installed without their consent and Robert Caswell Investigations provided the intercepted communications to APS, according to the lawsuit.

A spokeswoman for the school district said APS cannot comment on pending lawsuits.

Roybal-Mack said she believes her clients were targeted because one of their supervisors was unhappy that Gallegos, who is a union steward, recently had been moved into the position in the testing center. Soon after the cameras were discovered, Roybal-Mack said, Gallegos was moved to maintenance.

While many institutions use surveillance cameras to monitor their facilities, Roybal-Mack said this situation is concerning because Gallegos and Sanchez were targeted specifically.

“You walk into the mall, you know you’re on camera. You walk into the courthouse, you know you’re on camera. They don’t try to hide the surveillance,” she said. “And in this particular case, it’s not like they were surveilling the entire testing department. They were following two specific employees.”

Named as defendants are the state of New Mexico, APS, Robert Caswell Investigations Inc., and Eleanor Andrews and Claudine Sanchez, who Roybal-Mack said were the plaintiffs’ supervisors. The women are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

“It’s highly concerning that they used state money to surveil employees,” Roybal-Mack said. “How is that educating kids? How is that a good use of resources?”