Dear Bureau Pat,

Is it legal to insist that a witness or tape recorder is present in a meeting between my boss and I? Can I refuse the meeting if he says "no"? Or is there policy or law that I can show him to prove that I may or may not have this right?  Thanks for the help.

Dear Third Party,

The days of smuggling in an awkward unreliable tape recorders are over and the equipment you might consider has now been replaced by sleek cell phones and other digital recording device these days, making the prospect of surreptitiously recording your wacky boss's ranting a lot more appealing. BureauPat has known several staff who have recorded conversations at work without the other party having knowledge of it, which does not violate Federal law. However, many states have laws which prohibit it such as California and Maryland.

But your question seems to imply that you aren't interested in going all secret agent and don't want to do this covertly.  This is good--your overt approach and insistence on a witness is more subject to state laws and agency policy than anything else--and it will be more administrative law for the most part.

A witness may be present at most meetings---and that is often a policy of both public and private organizations to avoid any misinterpretations of misuse of things.  If a tape recorder is used, it should be done with permission of both parties--but also creates a chilling effect on the process.  This might not be a bad thing, it can just turn things into a rather formal inquiry, rather a discussion.

Worst case, if your departmental/agency employee handbook provides that tape recordings may not be made of meetings, that the employee many not bring somebody in during a discussion, etc. and if those types of issues have been upheld--then they are hard to beat.  But many of these provisions may undergo transformation if and when they are challenged for violating due process.

The current Supreme Court will be divided on this---to be sure!

While you can not refuse a meeting with your boss, you can ask that third party be present.  Again check with your Human Resource office to find out the specifics of your agency's policy, especially the refusal of supervisor to have a third-party present.  It is BureuaPat's position that employees and managers should never tape record telephone or personal conversations without knowledge and approval of the other person. Even then, I strongly discourage its use because by tape recording the other party to a conversation, even with his or her consent, you are implicitly accusing the other party of being a liar. This hinders healthy labor-management relations.  But inviting a third party (e.g., your employee relations specialist) , especially in difficult situations will hopefully ensure a civil meeting.

The Only,

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