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work place legal question


russian rocket
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long story short, a coworker attemtped to secretly record a conversation between me and another employee. i say attempted because she wasnt all to sneaky about placing the voice recorder in her computer bag, which is company property. she placed the voice recorder in her computer bag and walked out of the room. as soon as she left i opened the bag to confirm it was a voice recorder and it was recording.

 

is what she was doing legal or illegal. the guy i was having a conversation with does not get along with her at all. i get along with her just fine. i think she was trying to catch the other guy talking bad about her.

 

like i said, she was not present after she started recording and neither one of use consented to being recorded.

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Guest Spam
Definitely a terminable offense. It violates ohio wiretap laws which must make the person present, or peoples present, know before hand that they are being recorded. You could get her fired for this.
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Wrong dumb ass in Ohio only one party has to know the convo is being recorded

example

If I call you and recorded our conversation with out telling you it's fine because I knew it was recorded

As for a non phone conversation no one has to know it's being recorded. It could be put off as harassment but good luck trying that one

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Wrong dumb ass in Ohio only one party has to know the convo is being recorded

example

If I call you and recorded our conversation with out telling you it's fine because I knew it was recorded

As for a non phone conversation no one has to know it's being recorded. It could be put off as harassment but good luck trying that one

 

The conversation did not include the one recording....

 

:dumb:

 

KillJoy

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Its illegal. If she is part of the conversation she could have done it secretly (like stated 500 times). Being illegal trumps any internal rules HR may have. If its brought to their attention they have to act on it.

 

 

Another question.. are you in a position to be able to inspect company property at your discretion?

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hmmmm....

 

 

Ohio Wiretapping Law

 

Ohio's wiretapping law is a "one-party consent" law. Ohio law makes it a crime to intercept or record any "wire, oral, or electronic communication" unless one party to the conversation consents. Ohio Rev. Code § 2933.52. Thus, if you operate in Ohio, you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission from one party to the conversation in advance. That said, if you intend to record conversations involving people located in more than one state, you should play it safe and get the consent of all parties.

 

Additionally, consent is not required for oral communications (e.g., in-person conversations) where the speakers does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the communication. See Ohio Rev. Code § 2933.51. This means that you are free to record a conversation happening between two people in a public place such as a street or a restaurant, so long as you are not using sensitive recording equipment to pick up what you otherwise would not hear.

 

the only consenting party was not present during the conversation.

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Another question.. are you in a position to be able to inspect company property at your discretion?

 

yes, the computer bags are community company property, anyone can go into anyones bag with out consent

 

 

 

btw, thanks for your help guys

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The conversation did not include the 2 being recorded....

 

:dumb:

 

KillJoy

 

It was not a phone conversation

 

There are now laws on recording open conversations because they are not private. Every one can hear you.

 

Now if they went to another room with no one in it locked the door and some one recorded the conversation it would be illegal

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It was not a phone conversation

 

There are now laws on recording open conversations because they are not private. Every one can hear you.

 

Now if they went to another room with no one in it locked the door and some one recorded the conversation it would be illegal

 

we were in the computer room where we transmit data from out handhelds and the door was closed after she walked out.

 

also according to the law

you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission from one party to the conversation in advance.
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As soon as she walked out the door it became illegal. As far as public versus private conversation, if they were alone in a room that is a private conversation. This was absolutely illegal.

 

If it were me, I would call HR and ask them if they think you should call the police over it, and see how bad they flip out :gabe:

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Guest Spam
You are a full fledged idiot, Chris. Things more technical than moving a 55 gallon drum around or rebuiling a carb you should stay away from. For the sake of yourself and others.
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Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2933.52 clearly states that intercepting, recording or disclosing the contents of a wire, oral or electronic communication is illegal unless you were in an area where there was not a reasonable expectation of privacy in that communication or:

  • she was a participant in the conversation being recorded
  • has obtained the consent of at least one participant
  • or if accompanied by a criminal or tortious intent.

So unless you were both plotting a crime, then you should go to HR and request they address it as you're considering contacting an attorney regarding a civil suite.

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Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2933.52 clearly states that intercepting, recording or disclosing the contents of a wire, oral or electronic communication is illegal unless you were in an area where there was not a reasonable expectation of privacy in that communication or:

  • she was a participant in the conversation being recorded
  • has obtained the consent of at least one participant
  • or if accompanied by a criminal or tortious intent.

So unless you were both plotting a crime, then you should go to HR and request they address it as you're considering contacting an attorney regarding a civil suite.

 

This. The expectation of privacy is what gets a lot of people. If this happened outside or in a common area, there was no expectation of privacy. If this happened as you said, you had an expectation of privacy and she violated that.

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As with most any crime there actually has be be some damages done for it to have been committed otherwise it's just "intent". In her case she was likely just recording to see if you were talking bad about her because she is paranoid and thus did not damage either of you in any way. If she succeeded in her recording and tried to use it against you then you could use the power of the law to protect yourself but unless she actually did something with it, no crime was committed.

 

She could simply say she is forgetful and started the recording before leaving the room (when she was party to it) and forgot to turn the recorder off. In the eyes of the law it's worthless to pursue but it is something that you could take up with HR and she would most likely get a written warning about it.

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As with most any crime there actually has be be some damages done for it to have been committed otherwise it's just "intent". In her case she was likely just recording to see if you were talking bad about her because she is paranoid and thus did not damage either of you in any way. If she succeeded in her recording and tried to use it against you then you could use the power of the law to protect yourself but unless she actually did something with it, no crime was committed.

 

She could simply say she is forgetful and started the recording before leaving the room (when she was party to it) and forgot to turn the recorder off. In the eyes of the law it's worthless to pursue but it is something that you could take up with HR and she would most likely get a written warning about it.

 

So by your thinking the police can go around secretly recording peoples conversations until they catch them in the midst of making a drug or arms deal with no warrant needed since they were not intending to use the recordings for anything illegal? Their excuse would then be ooops, we forgot to turn the recorder off after the shift ended?

 

Actually, the law does hold that privacy is the key factor. Taping a person without their consent is a violation of her privacy and punishable in civil court. I do not have to prove damages for you to be guilty. You can't go around recording private conversations like she did here and claim no intent.

 

A general rules is that if people are engaged in a conversation where they reasonably expect privacy the statute protects that conversation.

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As with most any crime there actually has be be some damages done for it to have been committed otherwise it's just "intent". In her case she was likely just recording to see if you were talking bad about her because she is paranoid and thus did not damage either of you in any way. If she succeeded in her recording and tried to use it against you then you could use the power of the law to protect yourself but unless she actually did something with it, no crime was committed.

 

She could simply say she is forgetful and started the recording before leaving the room (when she was party to it) and forgot to turn the recorder off. In the eyes of the law it's worthless to pursue but it is something that you could take up with HR and she would most likely get a written warning about it.

 

So if I walk into a bank with a gun and demand money and the teller tells me no and I leave defeated there was no damage so no crime right?

 

If I walk into a bar carrying a gun, no damage is done so no crime right?

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