A lawsuit pitting a Smith Barney phone-call taping policy with claims of invasion of privacy is taking center stage in California Supreme Court. Customers of the Citigroup-owned brokerage – employees of the former WorldCom – claim the firm violated a state law that requires both parties of a conversation to give consent to a taping, but Smith Barney, in its opening salvo in the high court, contends that the calls were made from an office in Georgia, and therefore the company is not bound by California law. Georgia is one of 38 states requires consent of only one party to record phone calls.
