Lawsuit alleges former Cal State L.A. employee secretly recorded conversation with AD Daryl Gross
A former high-ranking athletic department official at Cal State Los Angeles secretly recorded conversations with Athletic Director Daryl Gross and three other employees, according to a lawsuit by the California State University Board of Trustees.
Filed last month in L.A. County Superior Court, the complaint accuses Sheila Hudson of violating a California law that bars recording confidential communication without the consent of all parties involved.
“The information recorded was conducted behind closed doors in a private setting and involved confidential personnel and student matters with Plaintiffs’ expectation that the conversations remain confidential and private,” the seven-page lawsuit said.
The recordings came to light in connection with Hudson’s ongoing lawsuit against the school and former Athletic Director Mike Garrett. Hudson, the school’s senior associate athletic director until last month, alleged Garrett sexually harassed female employees and the school violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Hudson’s lawsuit, which seeks a court order installing Hudson as the school’s athletic director plus unspecified monetary damages, also claimed Garrett and Gross were hired for the athletic department’s top job instead of Hudson “first and foremost” because of their gender.
Garrett and Cal State L.A. denied the claims in court filings.
Hudson gave the recordings of Gross and three other employees to Cal State’s Office of the Chancellor in April, the lawsuit said. During her deposition in the case two weeks later, she testified that she had taped the conversations on her cellphone.
Hudson recorded Gross during an August discussion in her office about “the operations and organization of the Cal State L.A. athletics department, report structure and division of responsibilities,” according to the lawsuit.
After Cal State L.A.’s attorneys raised concerns in April about the recordings, one of Hudson’s attorneys, Shahane Martirosyan, defended them in an email later attached to a court filing.
“Second, the recording is not illegal,” Martirosyan wrote. “It is legal, proper, and arguably necessary.… We believe constantly calling it illegal doesn’t make it illegal. We have not seen any evidence that the individuals on the recordings considered their conversations to be confidential and remain confidential.”
The lawsuit against Hudson seeks at least $30,000 plus unspecified monetary damages and legal fees.
A Cal State L.A. spokesman declined comment. Hudson’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Her lawsuit against Garrett and the school is scheduled for trial in October.
In a ruling in the case last month, Judge Rafael Ongkeko wrote that Hudson’s recordings likely violated state law and her legal team engaged in “willful discovery abuse.” The judge granted the school’s motion for a protective order to make the recordings confidential and sanctioned Hudson and her attorneys almost $7,000.
Twitter: @nathanfenno
UPDATES:
2:06 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.
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