Court Opinion

ID: 9494021
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:26:51.734628+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:10.473250
License: Public Domain

KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
The panel majority has reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant-appellees, finding that the electronic monitoring at issue in this case did not fall within one of the statutory exclusions provided by the federal wiretapping laws. In so doing, the panel majority has disregarded the plain language of the controlling statute by imputing a notice requirement into the ordinary course of business and law enforcement tests of the federal wiretapping laws. Because I am persuaded that the officers of the City of Battle Creek Police Department monitored David Adams’s use of his alphanumeric pager in the ordinary course of its business, see 18 U.S.C. § 2510(5)(a)(i), and in the ordinary course of exercising their law enforcement duties, see 18 U.S.C. § 2510(5)(a)(ii), I respectfully dissent.
Plaintiff-Appellant David Adams (“Adams”) has served as a law enforcement officer1 for Defendant Appellee City of Battle Creek Police Department since 1986. In conjunction with his position as a law enforcement officer, Adams was assigned an alphanumeric pager.2 Numerous allegations of complicity in drug activity have marked his tenure: (1) in 1989, his patrol partner was charged with drug trafficking; (2) a number of informants alleged that Adams had protected drug dealers; (3) Adams had appeared to maintain a close friendship with a local drug dealer. However, investigators had failed to surface substantial evidence of wrongdoing by Adams.
In 1995, Sgt. Patrick Alspaugh (“Als-paugh”), head of the Special Investigations Unit,3 became increasingly concerned that the department’s drug investigations were being compromised by an inside source. On two separate occasions, acting on reliable intelligence4 that drug transactions were ongoing at certain residences, police officers arrived at those locations to find *988that there were no drugs on the premises. On a third occasion, while attempting to search a residence, officers were fired upon by perpetrators attempting to flee upon the officers’ arrival. Given the nature of the targets’ ability to evade police investigation, Alspaugh reasoned that a member of the police department had been informing the targets of the investigation before the officers were able to arrive and conduct their search.
Alspaugh had assigned Officer Kathy Klomparens (“Klomparens”), a member of the Special Investigations Unit, to these cases. Alspaugh subsequently learned that Adams and Klomparens had had frequent contacts outside of the workplace. Alspaugh also learned that Adams may have been a close confidant of one of the targets of the unsuccessful narcotics investigations. Recalling the earlier allegations against Adams, Alspaugh requested of Jeffrey Kruithoff (“Kruithoff’), then-Deputy Chief of Police, that Adams’ official pager be cloned in order to determine if Klom-parens was informing Adams of the status of the active investigations. The parties have disputed whether Kruithoff authorized the use of the cloned pager.5
As Adams was paged" by unidentified third parties, Alspaugh wrote down the numbers. He then attempted to determine if any of the numbers matched any of Klomparens’s personal phone or pager numbers. Alspaugh intercepted one text message which informed Adams of the time and place of a police funeral. Because the cloned pager had not provided any incriminating information, Alspaugh destroyed the list after four or five days and discontinued monitoring the cloned pager. Alspaugh then contacted a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who informed him that Alspaugh’s surreptitious monitoring of Adams’ pager may have been illegal. Alspaugh promptly re-" turned the cloned pager to the telecommunications concern.
In 1996, Michael Lind, an intelligence officer,6 informed Adams of the surreptitious monitoring of his pager. Until that time, no member of the police department had informed Adams that he had been the target of an investigation into the possibility that he had been aiding drug traffickers in their attempts to evade police detection.
On March 9, 1998, Adams filed the instant complaint,7 alleging seven counts against defendants Kruithoff, Pope,8 and the City of Battle Creek Police Department (collectively “defendants”): (1) defendants had violated the Wire and Electronic Communications Interception Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq.9 (2) defendants had *989infringed upon Adams’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures; (3) defendants had violated Michigan’s wiretapping statute; (4) defendants had invaded Adams privacy in violation of Michigan law; (5) defendants had violated Michigan’s civil rights act; (6) defendants had intentionally inflicted emotional distress in violation of Michigan law; (7) Kruithoff s affair with Adams’ wife had resulted in a loss of consortium to Adams in violation of Michigan law.10 The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The lower court granted the defendants’ motion and denied the plaintiffs motion. The district court held that the defendants’ surreptitious monitoring fell within the business use exception contained in the wiretapping act:
The sensitive nature of information relating to drag trafficking investigations is obvious; maintenance of its confidentiality essential to the success of the mission and safety of law enforcement officers. Suspicion that plaintiff may have been involved in leaking drug raid information to drug traffickers was understandably a matter of grave concern to Detective Sergeant Patrick Als-paugh, Supervisor of the Special Investigations Unit, whose concern prompted the cloning of plaintiffs pager. It was also a matter of much greater significance to the police department’s “business” than an employee’s improper use • of a telephone for personal purposes. Moreover, the extent of the intrusion was minimal. The monitoring was based on particularized suspicion of wrongdoing, lasted only 10-14 days, and yielded, with the exception of one verbal message concerning a police memorial service, merely a listing of telephone numbers from which plaintiff was called. No monitoring of conversations took place. The recorded telephone numbers were found not to be incriminating and the monitoring was voluntarily discontinued.
Under these circumstances, as to which there is no genuine issue of material fact, the Court holds the subject monitoring of plaintiffs pager, limited in duration and minimally intrusive, was justified by a valid business purpose.
Adams v. City of Battle Creek, et al., No. 98cv233, slip op. at 8-9, 1999 WL 425885 (W.D. Mich. April 28, 1999). The district court further held that Adams’ Fourth Amendment rights were not violated by the defendants’ surreptitious monitoring as he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of his departmentally-provided pager.11 This appeal timely followed.
Summary judgment should “be rendered ... if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). “[Sjummary judgment will not lie if the dispute about a material fact is ‘genuine,’ that is, if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Ezzo’s Investments, Inc. v. Royal Beauty Supply, Inc., 243 F.3d 980, 985 (6th Cir.2001). Courts presented with motions for summary judgment must eonsid*990er the tendered evidence, and the reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the non-movant. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 588, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Redding v. St. Eward, 241 F.3d 530, 532 (6th Cir.2001). The reviewing court conducts a de novo examination of a district court’s order awarding summary judgment. See American Medical Security, Inc. v. Auto Club Ins. Ass’n of Mich., 238 F.3d 743, 749 (6th Cir.2001).
Wiretapping or monitoring electronic communications has been illegalized and is subject to civil and criminal penalties. See 18 U.S.C. § 2511(l)(a) (“Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who-(a) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication [is subject to penalties described in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(4)(a).]”). In defining the term “electronic, mechanical, or other device,”12 Congress excluded certain types of non-consensual monitoring from the purview of the statute:
“electronic, mechanical, or other device” means any device or apparatus which can be used to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication other than—
(a) any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or facility, or any component thereof, (i) furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by such subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course of its business;13 or (ii) being used by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties[.]14
18 U.S.C. § 2510(5).15
The panel majority has determined that those exceptions apply only when a legitimate purpose supports the monitoring, the monitoring is routine, and the monitoring officials have given actual notice to those being monitored.16 While I agree that a *991legitimate justification is required, nevertheless, I do not find support in the statute or the associated case law for requiring in all circumstances advance notice or routine monitoring.
Courts have required notice of the possibility of monitoring in cases where the quantum of the asserted business or law enforcement interest is low. See, e.g., Sanders v. Robert Bosch Corp., 38 F.3d 736, 741-42 (4th Cir.1994) (“In short, there is no business reason asserted for the decision not to notify all the Guards-mark employees of the use of the voice logger.”). However, when confronted with more substantial justifications, courts have permitted businesses to monitor without advance notice. See, e.g., Briggs v. American Air Filter Co., Inc., 630 F.2d 414, 420 n.9 (5th Cir.1980) (“Since the specific justification advanced here is so closely tied to a legitimate business purpose, we have no hesitation holding that there is nothing extraordinary about McClure’s act of listening in. Were the business justification less compelling, the absence of any company policy or prior warnings concerning use of company telephones might be more significant.”); Arias v. Mutual Central Alarm, Service, Inc., 202 F.3d 553, 559 (2d Cir.2000) (“Whether notice is required depends on the nature of the asserted business justification, and here, where the recording is at least in part intended to deter criminal activity, the absence of notice may more effectively further this interest.”); Berry v. Funk, 146 F.3d 1003, 1009 (“[If] covert monitoring is to take place it must itself be justified by a valid business purpose, or, perhaps, at least must be shown to be undertaken normally”).17
Moreover, the panel majority has ignored an express provision of the Wiretapping Act in holding that actual notice is required: the Wiretapping Act does not prohibit electronic eavesdropping where one of the parties has consented to the monitoring. See 18 U.S.C. § 2511(l)(c) (“It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication, where such person is a party to the communication or one of the parties *992to the communication has given prior consent to such interception.”)- Courts have determined that such consent may be explicit or it may be implied from the surrounding facts. See, e.g., United States v. Workman, 80 F.3d 688, 692-94 (2d Cir.1996); United States v. Van Poyck, 77 F.3d 285, 292 (9th Cir.1996). If the party has received advance notice of monitoring, then that party may ordinarily be said to have consented to the subsequent monitoring. Hence, by reading the business use and law enforcement exceptions to include actual notice, the panel majority has made those exceptions superfluous in light of the consent exception.18 See Amati, 176 F.3d at 955 (“If there is actual notice, there will normally be implied consent. So if the ‘ordinary course’ exclusion required proof of notice, it would have no function in the statute because there is a separate statutory exclusion for eases in which one party to the communication has consented to the interception.”) (citations omitted).
Given the fact that the ordinary course exclusions require the reviewing court to engage in a reasonableness analysis as to the nature, scope, and justification of the monitoring, it is important to note the circumstances surrounding the instant monitoring. In order to maintain the integrity of their drug investigations,19 the police department initiated surreptitious monitoring of Adams’ departmental pager.20 The monitoring was short-lived, effectuated no longer than required by its supporting purpose. The monitoring itself was hardly invasive as no personal messages were ever intercepted or recorded. In addition, because Adams had been informed that he was not to use departmental equipment for personal use, he had a limited expectation of privacy in the personal messages relayed by the pager. Moreover, Adams was aware that his equipment could be inspected at any time. It is true that Adams did not have specific notice that his pager could be monitored by the police department. However, in view of the seriousness of the justification proffered by the police department and the limited incursion on Adams’ privacy interests, Alspaugh and Kruithoff were acting in the ordinary course of the department’s business and of their law enforcement duties when they monitored Adams’ pager by cloning it.21
*993In enacting the Wiretapping Act, Congress did not intend to prohibit all wiretapping or electronic monitoring. Hence, it created two statutory exceptions to liability, both of which cover the monitoring sub judice. The law enforcement officers of the City of Battle Creek Police Department monitored Adams’ departmental pager in order to safeguard the integrity of their investigations. A legitimate interest provided the impetus for the monitoring, which did not extend beyond that interest in its scope or length.22 I would affirm the district court’s judgment. I therefore respectfully dissent.23

. Until 1993, Adams served as a patrolman. In 1993, Adams was promoted to the position of detective.

. The police department had given Adams a copy of departmental policy which indicated "Department issued equipment, supplies and uniforms, will at no time be converted [to] personal use.” The police department had notified Adams that "[it was] the policy of the Police Department to perform regular audits and inspections of all department issued equipment. These inspections ensure proper maintenance and use of all department equipment and supplies.”

. The Special Investigations Unit of the City of Battle Creek Police Department is primarily responsible for narcotics investigations.

. The police department would station officers outside these residences. These officers would then monitor the residences in the hours preceding any given search.

. Kruithoff has claimed that then-Chief of Police Thomas Pope authorized the use of the cloned pager. As this matter has come before this court on an appeal of the district court's order granting defendants' motion for summary judgment, it will be assumed for the purposes of this opinion that Kruithoff authorized the use of the cloned pager.

. Lind had applied to law school in 1996 and had disclosed on his law school application that he may have criminally violated the federal wiretapping laws. Lind felt it necessary to apprise Adams of his possibly felonious conduct.

. In addition to learning of the monitoring, Adams discovered that Kruithoff had had an affair with Adams' wife in 1990. Adams has contended that this affair prompted the monitoring of Adams' cloned pager.

. All claims against Pope were voluntarily dismissed on February 23, 1999.

. See 18 U.S.C. § 2511(a) (“Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who-(a) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication [is subject to penalties described in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(4)(a).]”).

. This claim was voluntarily dismissed on September 8, 1998.

. The district court dismissed Adams’ other claims without prejudice as the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over them in the absence of any federal claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c).

. " '[Ijntercept' means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device." 18 U.S.C. § 2510(4).

. This provision is normally referred to as the "business use exception” or the "extension phone exception.”

. This provision is normally referred to as the "law enforcement exception” or the "prison phone exception.”

. Law enforcement is the "business” of the City of Battle Creek Police Department. But see Amati, 176 F.3d at 955 ("[The business use exception] is intended for situations in which a business or other entity, presumably one not involved in law enforcement (for otherwise this exclusion would duplicate the one for eavesdropping in the ordinary course of law enforcement), records calls to or from its premises in order to monitor performance by its employees.”). The panel majority has imputed to the law enforcement section a solitary purpose-that of excluding from the act’s coverage the law enforcement practice of monitoring inmate phone calls — without any evidence that Congress intended that the exception be so limited. The cases which it has cited in support of that proposition have merely ruled that the law enforcement exception applies to inmate phone calls. None of the cases have limited the purview of the law enforcement exception to those circumstances.

.While the law enforcement exception has no such requirement, the business use exception requires that the electronic monitoring device be provided in the course of the pro*991vider's business. I agree with the panel majority’s determination that the cloned pager was provided to the police department in the course of the provider’s, MobileComm’s, business. Adams’ arguments to the contrary are unavailing.

. The panel majority cites Amati v. City of Woodstock, 176 F.3d 952 (7th Cir.1999), and Sanders v. Robert Bosch Corp., 38 F.3d 736 (4th Cir.1994), as support for their mandate that notice is required. Neither case supports requiring notice as a sine qua non element of the ordinary course test. In fact, Amati expressly held otherwise: "The plaintiffs argue that wiretapping cannot be 'in the ordinary course of law enforcement' unless there is express notice to the people whose conversations are being listened to. The statute does not say this, and it cannot be right." Amati, 176 F.3d at 955. The Sanders court’s analysis makes clear that the court was balancing the asserted business interest against the employee’s interest in advance notice:
"Covert use of a surveillance device must be justified by' a valid business purpose. Here, the justification advanced for the ongoing interception of telephone calls, i.e., the fear of bomb threats, does not in any way explain the fact that Bosch failed to inform any Guardsmark personnel, other than the supervisors, of the use of the voice logger. In short, there is no business reason asserted for the decision not to notify all the Guardsmark employees of the use of the voice logger.”
Sanders, 38 F.3d at 741-42 (footnotes omitted). The panel majority has also cited a district court case, Bohach v. City of Reno, 932 F.Supp. 1232 (D.Nev.1996), which did not deal with the exclusions at issue here, but instead focused on 18 U.S.C. § 2701 which permits internet service providers to store and retrieve electronic messages. See Bohach, 932 F.Supp. at 1236-1237.

. The panel majority places talismanic reliance on the notion that the monitoring must be routine. However, that would encourage businesses to record all phone calls when the asserted business justification required only limited monitoring. Such a result would be an unnecessary infringement on the privacy of any “innocent bystanders.” See Briggs, 630 F.2d at 420 n. 9 ("A general practice of surreptitious monitoring would be more intrusive on employees' privacy than monitoring limited to specific occasions.”).

. The department has provided numerous reports of allegations of Adams' involvement in drug activity. The fact that none of these allegations have been proven is not disposi-tive. Rather, the issue is whether, given the seriousness of these allegations and the harm which could occur to narcotics investigators if these allegations were true, defendants acted in the ordinary course of their duties.

. Adams has contended that the true motive for the cloning of the pager was far more involved than the purpose proffered by the appellees. Adams has alleged that Kruithoff monitored his activity because he had had an affair with Adams' wife a few years earlier. Indeed, Kruithoff has admitted having an affair with Adams’ wife. And, for the purpose of reviewing the instant motion for summary judgment, it is reasonable to infer that Krui-thoff indeed authorized the use of the cloned pager. However, it is undisputed that Als-paugh, not Kruithoff, raised concerns about Adams’ possible role in sabotaging the drug investigations. It is undisputed that Als-paugh, not Kruithoff, maintained control of the cloned pager. Moreover, it is undisputed that Alspaugh did not provide Kruithoff (or anyone else) with a copy of the list he created during the course of the monitoring.

. The circumstances in Briggs provide a commercial analog to those in this case: the *993employer had a particularized suspicion that an employee had been providing company secrets to the competition; the employee had been warned not to disclose the secrets; and the monitored phone call was between the competitor and the employee. The Briggs Court found that “it is within the ordinary course of business to listen in on an extension phone for at least so long as the call involves the type of information he fears is being disclosed.” Briggs, 630 F.2d at 420.

. Because I find that the implicated activity is within the exceptions provided by the act, I do not reach the issue as to whether the act contemplates holding police departments liable for the malfeasance of their employees. In addition, because I find that the district court properly awarded summary judgment in favor of the defendants, I would affirm the lower court’s consequent denial of the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.

. I concur in the majority’s disposition of the Fourth Amendment claim and the qualified immunity issue.