Class Action Call Recording Lawsuit Alleges Violations of California Privacy Laws

TD Bank is facing a class action call recording lawsuit from a California man, alleging the company violated California privacy laws by recording him without consent.

TD Bank reportedly violated California privacy laws on numerous occasions, with the claimant seeking to represent himself and others who experienced similar problems from TD Bank.

Plaintiff Adrian Chavez is filing this class action call recording lawsuit alleging the company violated California privacy laws by recording him and other customers without their permission during conversations.

According to the claim, the illegal call recording took place on Aug. 31, 2017, in late morning when Chavez received the call. Upon answering, he spoke to a company representative. The conversation lasted approximately three minutes, with the TD Bank representative trying to collect on an alleged debt.

The defendant company regularly speaks to consumers about highly personal and private finance problems, Chavez says.

At no point in time did the representative inform Chavez that he was being recorded or disclose that possibility during the call, Chavez claims. Upon learning he was recorded during the call, Chavez says he was shocked and offended due to the sensitive nature of the subject and the overall breach of privacy.

Chavez opted to file this class action call recording lawsuit soon after, seeking to represent other California residents who received cell phone calls from TD Bank and were recorded without their knowledge or consent.

Overview of California Privacy Laws

California privacy laws are some of the most progressive in the United States, requiring businesses to get consent from consumers before recording the conversation. Specifically, the California Invasion of Privacy Act requires all parties involved in a conversation to give consent before the conversation can be recorded.

This applies to any residents participating in conversations, for which consent from all parties must be given before any recording of the conversation takes place. This means that under California privacy laws, very few exceptions are given to the call recording rule regarding consent.

Businesses must be sure to give disclosure of potential call recording to the customer before any recording takes place. Typically this disclosure is given at the beginning of the call, in which the customer will either be asked to stay on the line or press a button on their dial pad to indicate consent.

It is important to note that staying on the line gives implied consent, which meets requirements under California privacy laws. While recording customer service calls is common practice for employee training purposes, businesses operating in the state of California could face serious legal fines if they do not follow this policy.

Businesses can face up to $5,000 per unlawful call recording which can quickly add up for any company. Several companies have already had to pay millions of dollars to settle call recording lawsuits after claimants alleged violations of California privacy laws.

California consumers who believe they were recorded without consent may be able to file their own complaint against the company. If the potential claimant wishes to do this, they should keep a log of the calls that took place, a summary of the call, and the time and date the call took place.

This California Privacy Laws Lawsuit is Adrian Chavez v. TD Bank N.A., Case No. 3:18-cv-00294-DMS-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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