Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace

P ERSONNEL R ECORDS AND F ILES

S ECTION 5

 Legal snapshot: Personnel Records and Files

 Constitutional Right of Privacy (Cal. Const. art. I, § 1)  The Ralph M. Brown Act (“Brown Act”), Gov. Code §§ 54950 et seq .  California Public Records Act, Gov. Code §§ 6250 et seq  Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act, Cal. Gov. Code §§ 3300 et seq.

Applicable laws:



Various other California statutes

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Common law torts

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All current and past employees

Who and what is protected?:

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Most personnel records and files

 Make or permit disclosures of personnel information or files absent written employee authorization or court order 285  Make authorized or ordered disclosures that are broader than authorization or order 286

Generally, employers must NOT:

 Waive the privacy rights of employees 287

 Employee’s interest in confidentiality of personnel records v. the employer’s or public interest in disclosing them

Applicable balancing test:

A. I NTERNAL A CCESS TO P ERSONNEL R ECORDS AND F ILES

1. A N E MPLOYEE ’ S R IGHT TO R ESPOND TO I NFORMATION IN H ER OR H IS P ERSONNEL F ILE California Education Code section 87031 requires that a district give its employees notice and the opportunity to review and comment on any derogatory information before placing that information in the employees’ personnel files. In Miller v. Chico Unified School District, Board of Education , 288 the California Supreme Court held that the Board’s failure to place 20 confidential memoranda criticizing Miller’s conduct in Miller’s personnel file, prior to reviewing and considering the memoranda in its decision to

Privacy Issues in the Community College Workplace ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 92