Locke v. Aston, M.D.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Sullivan, J.

This case presents the novel question of whether California law, which prohibits the taping of a telephone conversation without both parties’ knowledge and consent, or New York law, which allows such taping if one party consents, applies to a New York resident’s claim for damages for the surreptitious taping of such conversations by a California resident calling him in New York from California.

Plaintiff Diana Locke, a California resident, and defendant Dr. Sherrell J. Aston, a plastic surgeon and New York resident, agreed to collaborate on a book about plastic…