BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP - Four Kings Local School District custodians have been caught on tape allegedly doing nothing.
The employees were suspended last week after the district set up a hidden video camera in a break room and taped them not doing work for "extended periods of time," Superintendent David Query said.
"They were in the break room not doing their particular work . . . when they were supposed to be out doing their custodial duties," he said Wednesday.
The district continues to investigate the issue, he added. One of the employees, Shauna Crawford, said she was suspended without pay for 30 days. She said three others working the night shift also were suspended.
Mrs. Crawford doesn't deny sitting down on the job, but said workers already were "done with our areas."
"We did sit, and we did our job and we did it well," she said. "I don't have callouses on (my) hands for nothing."
Mrs. Crawford said she had told a supervisor that there were too many employees on her night shift for their workload. She added that the camera was hidden and employees were never alerted it had been installed.
James Irvin, the district's custodial supervisor, could not be reached for comment on the suspensions.
Mr. Query said employees were suspended immediately Nov. 11 once the videotapes were reviewed. He declined to disclose the names of any employees because the matter is still under investigation. The workers' union representative could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The practice of employers erecting video cameras to gauge employees' performance is becoming more common, said Lewis Maltby, director of the Employment Rights office with the American Civil Liberties Union. He said employees have very little legal protection in this area.
"Spying on people with hidden cameras really ought to be a last resort," Mr. Maltby said. "Hidden cameras are like nuclear warheads: You only use them when absolutely necessary.
"Employers are much more quick to spy than it used to be, just because it's easier and cheaper."
Mr. Query said the district has "never used (cameras) to this extent."
He said they occasionally use video cameras on buses if there are problems. Cameras also are used in school parking lots for safety purposes.
Videotaping these employees was "the most appropriate way" to handle the matter, said Janet Noble, president of the Kings Board of Education. "I think when you are trying to document an incident, you have to be careful and thorough, which I believe they were," she said.
Taping them was necessary because "it's so difficult to document this type of behavior."
She said the problem surfaced in September.
"These (employees) are virtually unsupervised from 10 o'clock at night until 6 in the morning. If someone does approach them, they can say, 'We're taking a break,' " Mrs. Noble said. "There's no way . . . of catching these people wasting their time. How do you catch people wasting time except for catching them on film?"
Mrs. Noble said this is the first time she is aware in her three years on the board that video cameras were used - aside from on buses and in the parking lots.
"Basically, they (employees) were on the honor system, and they violated the honor system. Some people are worthy of trust and other people aren't," she said.
"We have a system in place, and I have faith that it's a good system. I don't know how you can refute these videotapes."
