Do I have to turn over recordings of an investigation session I had with my employer and was allowed to record?
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Do I have to turn over recordings of an investigation session I had with my employer and was allowed to record?
I am in management with a county and have been under investigation for over a year now. Over four months ago I was interviewed in three separate sessions. I was allowed to record these sessions and the investigator did also. Nothing has been resolved to this date. However, I did receive a voice mail from the investigator yesterday, asking if I will give her my recordings, as she has apparently misplaced hers. I am very suspicious of this and am wondering if I legally bound to give these to her?
Asked on December 8, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you signed any agreement that you would do so, you would have to; otherwise, you do not need to turn them over unless and until there is a lawsuit or other legal proceeding, and some legal "discovery" mechanism, such as a subpoena, or a Notice to Produce, or written interrogatories, are used to request the recording. If you receive such a discovery request, rather than simply an informal request made outside of litigation, you'd need to comply unless you could show that there was some good ground to object, such as a privilege or relevance. But if process issued in the context of a lawsuit or criminal proceedings about the matter under investigation, it's difficult to imagine that there would be privilege or relevant issues.
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