NY's top court: Limit GPS tracking of state worker

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

New York’s top court says investigators went too far in their probe of a state worker suspected of falsifying time sheets when they used a GPS device on his car to track his movements around the clock.

The state Court of Appeals today reversed an earlier ruling and dismissed four of 11 charges against fired labor department employee Michael Cunningham. The court sent the case back to the state labor commissioner to determine a penalty on the remaining counts.

The tracking device was left on Cunningham’s car around-the-clock for 30 days, including during a family vacation.

The court’s majority rejected the argument that investigators needed a warrant. But they said the search was unreasonable because they did not make good efforts to avoid tracking Cunningham outside of business hours.