Secretly Recording a Meeting at Work

[kennyv519]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

There's some sort of situation going on at work where the company has it's attorneys coming in to our site to talk and ask questions to each individual employee. Nobody has any clue what their meeting will be about. The HR rep on site was asked by an employee last week if they needed an attorney present for the meeting and was told no. These meetings apparently have something to do with either a harrassment claim introduced by an employee against someone within the building OR it was said that the company received a report through the confidential ethics line it has setup trying to determine if anyone in our group did in fact send/call the line. So much for reporting an incident and remaining confidential!

This, to me, sounds as if it's more serious than what is being said and that a lawyer should in fact be present with the employee being questioned. I plan on taking in a covert recording device and recording all that is said. The reason for this is that way back early in my employment I was injured on the job and was told by management that I would be fired if I ever got hurt again. That in and of itself was illegal according to the rules of OSHA. I just do not trust this company and it's agents and want to be covered in case something is said or done that will affect my employment.

Thoughts?

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
Thoughts?

If that interview takes place in Pennsylvania then making that recording without the consent of all the participants to the conversation is a crime in Pennsylvania. So should it become known that you made the recording you may face criminal prosecution. Moreover, that recording would be inadmissible as evidence in court (except on the prosecution for the illegal recording) making the recording worthless to you even if the state elected not to prosecute you for it. So ask the interviewer and anyone else present for consent before you record.

Otherwise, your better approach than making an illegal recording would be to have another person present at the interview as a witness, if possible. Or decline the interview altogether if you don't trust the interviewers.

 

[adjusterjack]

I just do not trust this company and it's agents and want to be covered in case something is said or done that will affect my employment.

If you don't trust the company why are you still working there?

Seems to me you have two options:

1 - Refuse to answer any questions and likely get fired.

2 - Answer the questions and keep your job, assuming the situation has nothing to do with you.

You have no leverage here. There is nothing you can do to cover yourself. You can be fired for any reason not prohibited by law.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to a brief overview of Pennsylvania's recording laws, published by the Digital Media Law Project (2014):
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-recording-law
I recommend you do not discuss with others what you suspect might be going on in your workplace. If the matter involves you or your employer believes what you have to say could be important, the employer will let you know soon enough.

If you are asked to come in and speak to your employer or the company attorneys, and you are uncomfortable being questioned, you can either decline to answer any questions and/or ask to have an attorney present.

If you have no idea what is going on, though, and you know that nothing you have done could be the subject of a company investigation, I recommend you concentrate on your work and avoid gossip or gossiping.