Court Opinion

ID: 9753752
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:25:49.277486+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:41.195865
License: Public Domain

*485Dissenting Opinion by
Judge Doyle :
I must respectfully dissent.
I believe Luketic is distinguishable from the instant case. The Court in Luketic found that the claimant therein had not engaged in any specific conduct which was adverse to her employer’s interest. The referee found that claimant was discharged because of her “prior disruptive influence and negative attitude and also because of her actions at the staff meeting where she openly accused the employer of being less than honest with the staff.” 35 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 361, 365, 386 A.2d 1045; 1047 (1978). This Court stated however, that “in the unusual circumstances of this case, we believe that her [actions at the staff meeting] were reasonable in light of her recent experiences concerning the attempted layoff two weeks before.” Id. at 366, 386 A.2d at 1048.
In the instant case, I believe that Claimant’s behavior of surreptitiously recording the hearing and playing it back, with, as the Board correctly found, the intent and result of causing a disturbance among the employees, was not reasonable, and therefore constituted at least the “negligence which manifests culpability, wrongful intent, evil design, or intentional and substantial disregard for the employer’s interest or the employee’s duties and obligations,” which this Court has previously required for a conclusion of willful misconduct. See Kentucky Fried Chicken of Altoona, Inc. v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 10 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 90, 97, 309 A.2d 165, 168-69 (1973).
In addition, it is totally unnecessary for this Court to reach the issue of whether or not Claimant’s act of recording the hearing was a violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, 18 Pa. C. S. §§5701-5727. But even if we were, I am far from convinced that under the cireum*486stances of this case, where Claimant did not deny that he actively concealed his act of recording the hearing, that Employer had no legitimate expectation of privacy. There is a distinction between the official recording of public proceedings and the private recording for personal use, even by a party in the case. I believe the Court sets a dangerous precedent by holding to the contrary. What with the common knowledge and technical ability to edit and “doctor” tapes that exists today, parties in attendance at a referee’s hearing are justified in an expectation that their discussions and testimony are not being secretly recorded.