Can you record video or audio to prove discrimination?

When you face discrimination at work, it can be a very frustrating experience. Although the law says your unique characteristics shouldn’t affect your work opportunities, you know that they have. You know that your supervisor or the company’s owner treats you and possibly some of your coworkers differently because of certain characteristics.

Maybe women can never secure promotions at the company, or perhaps there seems to be a maximum wage ceiling for people of a certain racial background. Sometimes, managers and business owners aren’t particularly subtle about their acts of discrimination. In fact, you may even hear or see people actively engage in discrimination in the workplace.

You know that both federal law and Florida state law protect you from employment discrimination, but you also realize that you need evidence if you want to bring a claim against your employer. Could you use your cellphone or other devices to capture video footage or audio recordings of your experience at work?

Recording without consent is a crime in Florida

Florida privacy laws protect people from having embarrassing and private video footage or audio recordings captured without their knowledge and consent. The state has a two-party consent law which means that everyone subject to recording must be aware of the recording and agree to it.

If you capture video footage or audio of your supervisor using a racial slur at work, you probably won’t be able to use that footage in civil court. In fact, you could end up facing consequences for violating the law by recording it.

How do you prove discrimination?

The kind of discrimination you experience at work can influence the best way to document it. Printing emails, keeping a journal and securing testimony from witnesses are all ways in which you could potentially prove that you have faced inappropriate discrimination at work based on characteristics that deserve protection.

A discrimination claim could result in financial consequences for your employer that become compensation for you as the party harmed by the company’s misconduct. Gathering evidence of employment discrimination is a crucial step in the development of a successful claim, but you must protect yourself from mistakes that may violate the law.