I get calls from time to time asking about camera and audio placement. The calls are usually from security low voltage integrators [what I call alarm companies] and they want to know if they have liability for placement here or there.
My typical response is, unless placement is clearly in area that is absolutely prohibited, it’s going to be the owner, end user, who gets sued.
That’s not always the case, because real life doesn’t always follow hypothetical scenarios. Here is an email I got from someone who got me off the Internet and used our contact link. I didn’t respond to that person but I am going to use his inquiry to caution you.
Here’s the inquiry:
“My family is facing a situation where a neighbor put a camera 15 feet up on their house a few feet from my fence line, pointed to the back yard. It is capturing private areas: my garage, behind my garage and my backyard. We put up a tarp to block the camera and the neighbor complained and the city wants us to take the tarp down. The police have asked him to move his camera two times and he hasn’t. We would like to find out if we can take him to court to have the camera moved and sue for damages.”
Resolving Neighborhood Disputes
This is obviously a very upset neighbor. Seems like it’s escalated quite a bit already.
There are a few court proceedings that come to mind, such as a mandamus action against the city to compel it to enforce laws, if there are any, or an action against the neighbor for violation of property rights, civil rights, invasion of privacy, personal injury damages, such as mental health problems, injunctive relief and monetary damages.
Let’s see what the jury has to say.
I don’t know if the aggrieved person [and the one who put up the camera] live on billionaire’s row or skid row; I don’t know if they will be getting lawyers who actually know what they are doing and find the case interesting enough to invest time and money.
If a lawsuit gets started it’s more than likely that the alarm company who installed the cameras, maybe monitors them, will get sued or dragged into the case.
If the alarm company has a K&K contract with the indemnity provision, and the subscriber is on billionaire’s row so that the indemnity is worth something, the alarm company will suffer only inconvenience.
But if there isn’t a proper contract with the customer with the camera, and if they customer claims the alarm company decided where to place it and chose the location to piss off the neighbors because that’s what the subscriber wanted, them there could be a problem.
Sure, the law and a contract would make for an uphill battle for the plaintiff but do you want to rely on a judge or jury for that? Have you seen the news on jury awards these days? It’s not hundreds or thousands, or even tens of thousands; it’s millions and lots of millions.
Your company isn’t worth that much so be careful. Use K&K contracts, get them signed, don’t install devices where it’s questionable, especially without getting a Disclaimer Notice signed in addition to the K&K contract.
https://www.securitysales.com/insights/legal-briefing-get-sued-security-camera-placement/619650/