A lawsuit was filed earlier this year on May 31, 2018, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles against an outbound sales company and other related defendants accused of recording calls without consent.

The complainant brings his case against DebtHelp Inc., Great Destinations Inc., Donisi Jax Inc. dba Nationwide Health Advisors, and America’s Health Advisors Insurance Agency Inc..

Plaintiff Bruce R. is a resident of San Pedro, Calif. who says he subscribed to a personal telephone landline and cellular mobile line. Bruce has purportedly been the recipient of numerous sales calls in which the companies involved have been recording calls without consent. He argues this recording violates the California Invasion of Privacy Laws (CIPA).

According to the lawsuit, DebtHelp Inc. made four contacts with Bruce between May 25 and June 16, 2017, in which they were purportedly recording calls without the consent of plaintiff secretly.

Likewise, he claims Great Destinations Inc. was surreptitiously recording calls without consent which they made to the plaintiff between May 29 and July 18, 2017. The phone calls totaled four from this company as well.

Bruce alleges further invasion of privacy by Donisi Jax Inc., whom he alleges called on May 31, 2017, and had made several other calls using aliases prior and after this date.

He says that he learned on the May 31 call that the defendant was recording calls without consent. He claims the defendants have established a habit of not announcing their intent to record prior to doing so at the beginning of a conversation.

Finally, according to the lawsuit, the plaintiff claims that he was contacted by America’s Health Advisor’s Insurance Agency on May 7 and June 5, 2017, and learned that the company was recording calls without consent at the end of the interaction.

These actions on behalf of these defendant companies were done despite never having sought prior authorization from the plaintiff to record.

Bruce brings as his first and only cause of action a claim of violation of CIPA Penal Code 632.7 and 637.2. This penal code prohibits secret recording of phone calls without first seeking the consent of the call recipient or caller. For each violation under this law, a company can be assessed a statutory fine of $5,000 or up to three times the amount of proven damages.

The state of California has a long history of seeking to protect its citizens from invasions of privacy. Their laws have revised as technology has advanced from standard land-based telephone lines to fax machines and cellular phones.

This keeping up with advancement has identified the state as a two-party consent jurisdiction. This means that both parties involved in a call need to give permission prior to any recording of interaction taking place.

The Recording Calls Without Consent Lawsuit is Case No. BC708144 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Central District.