Secretly recorded meeting

[sellicnj]

I had a meeting in march where it got a little heated and voices were raised ive now 3 or 4 months later had a grievance meeting where a secret recording was produced of that meeting by a 3rd party hiding on the stairs she dosent work for the company but her boyfriend does and hes one who has taken out a grievance against me They have now said im going to be disciplined can that taped evidence be used against me it was recorded without my consent and i was only made aware of it months later during the grievance investigation meeting

In general, recording of conversations for private use is unregulated. However, assuming she was not acting on behalf of the company, the woman recording the conversation could only share the recording with third parties if she had consent from all participants (which she clearly didn't have) or she can demonstrate that sharing the recording was in the public interest (doesn't sound like it was). So in this situation you may be able to take action against the woman and claim damages.

If the company asked her to record the meeting the situation would be a little different. A company can make secret recordings under certain conditions. However, it is unlikely that this recording met the conditions. If the company asked the woman to record the meeting it is probably in breach of at least two of the data protection principles in the Data Protection Act. Even if they did not ask her to record the meeting, it is still personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act so they may be in breach of the Act by using for disciplinary purposes a recording which they know was obtained without your knowledge or consent.

I would ask them to look at www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/is-an-employer-able-to-tape-record-a-meeting-with-an-employee-to-ensure-that-it-has-an-accurate-record-of-the-meeting/59713/ and think about the implications for them of their use of the recording in this way. I would also suggest to them that, now they have used the recording they can't unuse it so any disciplinary action is potentially suspect. If they go ahead and discipline you anyway I would consider making a complaint to the ICO. If they dismiss you I would definitely complain to the ICO and consult an employment lawyer about a possible claim for unfair dismissal.