SDCCD'S E-MAIL POLICY

 April 7, 2001 


 The San Diego Community College District must turn over the e-mail
 correspondence of seven employees, mostly active union members who may
 have broken the law, a court has ruled.

 Superior Court Justice Kevin A. Enright has ordered that the e-mail be given
 to former trustee Kenneth Moser, who sued the district seeking the e-mail.
 Moser, who was unseated last fall, argues that these employees violated the
 district's policy by using e-mail to campaign against him.

 State law allows public access to read and copy public records, so long as
 the request is considered reasonable. 

 In recent years, courts have ruled that e-mail content is a work product.
 E-mail has been used in sexual harassment, discrimination and early
 termination lawsuits. Generally in private companies and public agencies,
 e-mail can and has been used in criminal cases.

 E-mail and technology in the workplace have become a burgeoning area of
 the law. Xerox Corp. recently fired more than 40 employees for spending
 time, up to eight hours a day in some instances, on pornographic Web sites.
 Last fall, the U.S. Department of Defense fired more than 100 workers for
 circulating jokes containing sexual content over its computer system.

 After Moser lost his seat on the board, he asked for the e-mail of 38 district
 employees. He later revised it to seven staff or faculty members -- union
 president Jim Mahler, Jim Miller, Lou Ann Graham, Rhoda Shulte, Shad
 Jeffries, Charles G. Corum and Kathy McGuinnis. Most are on the union's
 executive committee.

 Moser wanted all of their e-mail from 120 days before both the fall and spring
 elections. The district refused, arguing that his request was unreasonable.

 "The district is directed to produce any e-mails for the seven named
 employees which concern or relate to violations of the education code or the
 district's policy regarding political activity," Enright wrote.

 The district has until May 25 to comply with Enright's order, which he issued
 March 30. A district spokesman said the district would comply.

 In 1998, the board unanimously passed a policy outlining that it would respect
 the privacy of e-mail users. The e-mail should be used for district business,
 but periodic personal e-mail was to be expected. The policy does state that
 the district would not monitor correspondence but it made no guarantees that
 content would remain confidential.

 Chancellor Augustine Gallego said Moser's request put the administration in
 an awkward position, between Moser and the union.

 "The union indicated that these records were privileged between the union and
 the union members," Gallego said. "Our contention was we had to release
 records, that they were public records. This is why we wanted to get the
 courts' ruling on this."

 Gallego refused to say if the seven employees would be fired or disciplined if
 any abuses are found, saying that he would have to check with the Board of
 Trustees and the district's lawyer.

 Miller, a union representative, called Moser's lawsuit politically motivated.
 "The lawsuit represents a pretty significant threat to employee privacy rights
 and the privacy rights of students and may result in us suing the district," he
 said.

 Moser, whose opinions and ideas often angered the union, served one term
 on the board of trustees that ended in 2000. He was defeated by former
 district teacher William Schwandt, who had the union's endorsement.

 Depending on what he discovers in the e-mail correspondence, he said, he
 may turn them over to the District Attorney's Office or San Diego County
 grand jury.

 Moser is no longer in public office and runs a small business. 

 "You can call it sour grapes, but people are supposed to play by the rules,"
 Moser said. "If they don't play by the rules, there is the day after the election
 whether your name is Richard Nixon or anybody else."



Source: Union-Tribune Publishing Co.