Secret recordings ‘can be heard’ - Palmers Solicitors

Secret recordings ‘can be heard’

Secret recordings made by an employee during grievance and disciplinary hearings were admissible as tribunal evidence, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.

After the employee made claims of sexual harassment, sex discrimination and constructive dismissal, she secretly recorded conversations made during the internal hearings and during breaks.

Her employer appealed after an employment tribunal ruled that there was no reason why the comments should be treated as an exception to a general rule that relevant evidence is admissible.

Upholding the tribunal decision, the EAT said that the fact that the recordings were made covertly was not in itself grounds for ruling them inadmissible, adding that the tribunal had correctly carried out a balancing exercise that set “the general rule of admissibility of relevant evidence against the public policy interest in preserving the confidentiality of private deliberations in the internal grievance/disciplinary context”.

It said: “It will be for the full tribunal to assess the cogency of the recordings and their impact on the issues which it must determine.”

The Palmers employment law team can provide expert advice on all aspects of employment law, including on putting in place clear employment policies and procedures, to help minimise the risk of claims, and assisting in employment disputes to avoid the need for the intervention of an employment tribunal.

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