Harassment in the Workplace Attorney in Woodland Hills, California

Workplace Recordings: Are workplace recordings legal and admissible?

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I see many cases that come into my office where and in particular an employee has recorded a supervisor. With the prevalence of iPhones and watches that can record without really anyone knowing that that’s occurring I think employees believe that that is something that will support their case for discrimination or harassment or retaliation. And oftentimes they’ll record without consent, which in California is illegal. There’s actually a penal code section that prohibits the recording of a third party without their expressed consent.

So the question that it comes down to is that there are cases and there’s a body of case law that talks about situations where for example, an employee is being sexually assaulted by a supervisor. Now a recording in that scenario might be legal and might be admissible in a case against that individual because a crime is being committed. Whereas if someone makes perhaps a racial remark about someone in the workplace and that’s caught on a recording there’s a penal code section that makes that illegal. That also prohibits the admissibility of that recording, and imposes a fine on whoever records it.

So I’ve had situations with employees that have come in to my practice with let’s say 10 to 15 workplace recordings, none made with the consent of anyone involved, and they have actually lost on summary judgement or lost their case with fines in excess of $100,000.00 because of $6,500.00-$10,000.00 fine that can be associated with illegal recordings.

And so, employees and employers for that matter, supervisors who maybe are having an issue with an employee really need to be careful about recording without consent. It gets you into more trouble than it does to support your case.

Los Angeles, CA employment lawyer David G. Jones talks about workplace recordings– Are they are legal or admissible in court and are there consequences for recording without consent?

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