Unusual 3-way Switch Wiring

[Rdeisenmann]

While working on the wiring for one of the switches in my recently purchased house, I noticed that one of the other switches in the box is a 3-way switch that is wired differently than I have ever seen before. The 3-way switches control the outlets in the room, so lamp plugged into the outlets are switched (1 outlet on each receptacle is switched, the other is always hot). A hot (black) wire is connected to the traveler screw on each switch. A red wire runs between the other traveler screws. A third wire (yellow) runs between the common screws, and connects to the black screws on the switched receptacles along the line. (See the attached diagram for clarification) This setup works like a typical 3-way switch, but since I've never seen anything like it before, I was wondering if it is safe and legal. Thanks for the input.

 

[Little Bill]

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