Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Can I Sue Union Members?

I work for a county in California. Several employees report to me. I provided informal written counseling to one of the employees about a serious conduct issue. That particular employee has prior history of lots of issues with different staff. That employee has now made a huge deal and gone to her union. The union member is now accusing me untruthful allegations without any evidence. Further, the union member is engaging in character defamation against me. The union rep is insisting on having another meeting with me. Here are my questions:

Am I legally allowed to take a tape recorder to that meeting and tape the discussions?

Can I directly sue that individual employee and the union member for character defamation without involving the county?

If I retain an attorney, which attorney can deal with this kind of case?

Thank you for your advice.


Asked on 12/06/08, 1:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Phillip Lemmons, Esq. Phillip Lemmons APC, Attorneys at Law

Re: Can I Sue Union Members?

You might want to defer to your employer's policy. You always have the right to record your meetings, so long as it doesn't violate policy. Make sure everyone knows they are being recorded. You can sue anyone for defamation of character. Again, you might want to handle this on an administrative level first. It may be difficult to prevail on this suit unless of course you suffer some real and calculable damaged.

Read more
Answered on 12/06/08, 1:25 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More General Civil Litigation questions and answers in California