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FRANK GERARDI v. CITY OF BRIDGEPORT ET AL. (SC 18318) STEPHEN VITKA v. CITY OF BRIDGEPORT ET AL. (SC 18322)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Katz, Palmer, Vertefeuille, Zarella and McLachlan, Js. Argued September 22, 2009--officially released January 5, 2010

Thomas J. Weihing, with whom, on the brief, were John T. Bochanis and Janice L. Rosenfeld, for the appellants (plaintiff in each case). John P. Bohannon, Jr., for the appellees (defendants in each case).

Opinion

VERTEFEUILLE, J. These appeals arise from separate actions brought by the plaintiffs, Frank Gerardi and Stephen Vitka, against the defendants, their employer, the city of Bridgeport (city), and Brian P. Rooney, the fire chief of the city, challenging the defendants' effort to discipline the plaintiffs, who are city fire inspectors, for improper job performance, which was detected through the defendants' use of global positioning system devices (GPS devices) without the plaintiffs' knowledge. The plaintiffs now appeal1 from the judgments of dismissal rendered in favor of the defendants for the plaintiffs' failure to exhaust administrative remedies as provided in the collective bargaining agreement between the union that represented the plaintiffs and the city. We affirm the judgments of the trial court, but do so on reasoning different from that of the trial court. The record reveals the following undisputed facts and procedural history. As city fire inspectors, the plaintiffs' duties included inspecting buildings located throughout the city for compliance with applicable fire codes. The city provided the plaintiffs with city owned vehicles to use in the performance of their duties. In May, 2007, the city acquired new vehicles, and, without advising the plaintiffs, installed GPS devices in each of the vehicles in order to monitor electronically the fire inspectors' movement and location while the vehicles were in use. After monitoring the plaintiffs' activities through the use of the GPS devices and examining the information gathered by the devices, the city brought disciplinary actions against the plaintiffs relating to the performance of their duties. The plaintiffs then brought the actions underlying these appeals. They alleged that the defendants had violated General Statutes

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Connecticut Law