The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., in Stephens Media, LLC v. NLRB, just upheld a finding by the NLRB that an employer in Hawaii unlawfully punished protected concerted activity when it interrogated four employees and discharged one of them for surreptitiously recording a meeting with a management representative. The employer had no policy against secret recordings. Moreover, no state law was violated.

Recordings without all party knowledge and consent are illegal in a number of states, including Maryland.  Still, employers in Maryland and states with similar laws should consider stating that they prohibit any recording of conversations in violation of state law.  Further, employers in states where all party consent is not required when recording conversations should consider implementing the additional prudent step of expressly prohibiting secret recordings of meetings or any conversation in the workplace.