COMMONWEALTH v. COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD & another.

**Court Rules Against Secret Employee Phone Monitoring** This case involved MassHealth, Massachusetts' Medicaid program, secretly monitoring employees' telephone conversations at work without telling them or their union. The employees' union filed a complaint, arguing that this surveillance violated their collective bargaining agreement and labor rights. The court sided with the workers and their union. It upheld a decision by the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board that found MassHealth had illegally changed working conditions without following proper procedures. The court ruled that employers cannot secretly start monitoring employee phone calls without first notifying workers and giving their union a chance to negotiate about the new policy. **What This Means for Workers:** This ruling reinforces important workplace protections for unionized employees. Employers cannot secretly implement new surveillance or monitoring programs that affect working conditions. They must be transparent about workplace monitoring and give unions the opportunity to bargain over such changes. For workers, this decision emphasizes that even government employers must follow labor laws and respect collective bargaining rights. If you're in a unionized workplace and your employer starts new monitoring without notice, this could violate your rights.