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Former court employee in Erie loses privacy lawsuit in wiretapping case

The defendant, 60-year-old Karla Jeffery, who is accused of secretly recording conversations of employees in the clerk's office, argued unsuccessfully that conversations in the office's locked work area were public.

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A judge has ruled in favor of the Erie County District Attorney's Office in a wiretapping case, finding that certain areas of the Erie County public courthouse are private.

The judge rejected the arguments of a former employee of the court registry who is accused of having recorded her former colleagues on tape in October without their consent.

The defendant, Karla Jeffery, argued that the recording was not illegal because employees of the court's office, which handles criminal records, had no reasonable expectation of privacy. Jeffery's attorney, Gene Placidi, wanted to drop the charges.

Judgment focuses on the expectation of privacy

Assistant District Attorney Brendan Sala argued the charges were justified. He said the lobby of the clerk of court's office on the ground floor is open to the public, but they are denied access to the employees' work area, which is separated from the lobby by a counter and a glass wall. Sala said employees have a legitimate right to privacy in the restricted work area.

Cambria County Judge Norman A. Krumenacker III agreed. He was assigned the case after Erie County judges recused themselves.

“The archivists who work in the clerk's office are entitled to confidentiality in their conversations because they often discuss confidential matters related to files classified as such by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In addition, the Erie County employee handbook prohibits the disclosure of confidential information to unauthorized persons,” Krumenaker said in a 14-page opinion filed Tuesday.

Krumenacker also ruled that prosecutors were right to seize Jeffery's cellphone and a recording device while investigating her colleague's allegations that she had secretly filmed them.

Former employee charged with crimes and misdemeanors

On October 27, Jeffery, 60, was charged with recordings on October 2 and 3. She resigned on October 4.

She has pleaded not guilty to the third-degree felonies of illegal interception of communications and criminal use of a communications facility, as well as the first-degree misdemeanor of possession of a murder weapon.

The public prosecutor has not given a motive.

Jeffery had fallen out with her boss, elected Clerk of the House Aubrey Hagerty-Haynes, against whom she ran unsuccessfully in the 2021 election.

Jeffery is suing in federal court, alleging she was subjected to a hostile work environment and demoted in retaliation for running against Hagerty-Haynes. The district denies those allegations.

Contact [email protected] or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X @ETNpalatella.

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