Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc.

Opinion

GEORGE, C. J.

The complaint in this case alleges that employees at the Atlanta-based branch of defendant Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. (SSB)—a large, nationwide brokerage firm that has numerous offices and does extensive business in California—repeatedly have recorded telephone conversations with California clients without the clients’ knowledge or consent. These facts give rise to a classic choice-of-law issue, because the relevant California privacy statute generally prohibits any person from recording a telephone conversation without the consent of all parties to the conversation,…