A California man is accusing Avvo Inc. of violating California call recording laws by recording conversations with consumers without their permission.

Under California call recording laws, it is illegal to record conversations unless all parties involved give consent. Avvo Inc. allegedly failed to do this, spurring plaintiff Stephen M. to eventually file legal action against the company.

According to the California call recording lawsuit, Avvo had contacted Stephen on Aug. 16, 2018 on his office line and spoke to his assistant. His assistant allegedly told the Avvo representative to call his cellphone.

Stephen says the representative called and tried to solicit services and products. This cellphone call allegedly lasted about four minutes, during which time Stephen claims the call was recorded.

Stephen says that at no point during this conversation was he warned that his conversation could be recorded, nor did the representative ask for his permission. Stephen opted to file this lawsuit arguing the company has violated California call recording laws.

Overview of California Call Recording Laws

California call recording laws fall under the state’s Invasion of Privacy Act, which requires all parties involved in a conversation to give their consent before any recording takes place. This means that there are very few exceptions in which permission is not needed when recording conversations in California.

This policy is especially prevalent for businesses operating in the state, which must respect California call recording laws when speaking with consumers. Like many other companies, Avvo has a customer service line that was specifically designated to place calls to customers and to take incoming calls from them.

In both cases, the company representative as well as the consumer must be willing to allow themselves to be recorded under state law. According to California call recording laws, the company must at least disclose potential call recording and give the person on the other end a chance to hang up.

This is typically done during the beginning of the call with an artificial voice recording, which then normally asks consumers to either stay on the line or press a button on the dial pad to indicate consent. It is important to note that by staying on the line, the customer gives implied consent under California call recording laws.

Stephen alleges the Avvo representative failed to do any of this, with other potential class members allegedly having similar experiences.

Companies can face up to $5,000 per illegal call recording incident, or three times the amount of any actual damages suffered. Some companies have already paid multimillion dollar settlements to resolve alleged violations of California call recording laws.

People who are considering filing legal action against companies for allegedly recording them without their permission, should keep a log of the relevant calls and take note of any disclosures that were given or were not.

The Avvo Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-02213-BEN-BLM, in the United States District Court of the Southern District of California.