Question about being quoted by name in an article

[PugnacAutMortem]

So I have a situation where I was quoted in an article about my company. The problem is now I could potentially be in hot water with my company because they have a strict no talking to the press policy. The hell of it is that in this conversation with this person, she did not tell me she was going to quote me, that she was even writing an article about my company nor did she ask my permission to quote me by name.

What are my options here? Can she legally do that?

[Great-Kazoo]

call editor of media.
FWIW: ANYTHING you say to a reporter / media gets printed, minus the obscenities. My phone rang for 2-3 days after an article came out 15-20 years ago, quoting something i said.

[PugnacAutMortem]

call editor of media.
FWIW: ANYTHING you say to a reporter / media gets printed, minus the obscenities. My phone rang for 2-3 days after an article came out 15-20 years ago, quoting something i said.

She didn't identify herself as a member of the media though. We were just having a conversation and then all of a sudden a couple days later one of my coworkers came up to me and said she found an article about our company quoting me in it. I didn't even know I was speaking to someone who was going to write an article. And it would be one thing if she just said "I spoke to an employee at ..." but she named me by name.

[cstone]

Sorry to hear that. Was she a total stranger?

Good object lesson: Don't say anything to anyone you aren't willing to stand by.

I think we all learn that lesson at some point. I am a slow learner and have been fed many of the things I've said in the past...repeatedly.

[PugnacAutMortem]

Total stranger.

Definitely lesson learned...however I still could potentially lose my job over this. My google-fu isn't so great today apparently, because everything I try searching for brings me to copyright laws...but is there any recourse I can take on this lady? I'm waiting to see what my PR department wants to do, but if I lose my job over this I am going to want to take some recourse on this lady and probably my company as well. I just can't tell if she legally can do what she did or not.

[cstone]

Consult an attorney.

This would seem to be like having your photograph taken in public. You have little recourse as long as the news outlet does not misrepresent or distort what you said. I would expect that if she is a journalist, she was probably recording your conversation. Colorado is a one party consent state, so she has no obligation to notify you that she is recording.

[PugnacAutMortem]

Consult an attorney.

This would seem to be like having your photograph taken in public. You have little recourse as long as the news outlet does not misrepresent or distort what you said. I would expect that if she is a journalist, she was probably recording your conversation. Colorado is a one party consent state, so she has no obligation to notify you that she is recording.

I definitely will talk to an attorney. I think it's different than having your picture taken in public because she is quoting me as a representative of the corporation as opposed to what our convo really was, a convo between two individuals. Plus, you have a certain anonymity if you just randomly have your picture taken in public.

I don't know, I'm just freaking out a bit because we are in the process of buying a house and I CANNOT lose my job.

[Madeinhb]

Not quite sure but if she was recording - she needs your permission. Was she writing notes while you were talking? Was she asking those questions that reporters ask?

[hatidua]

Not quite sure but if she was recording - she needs your permission.

-not necessarily.

[PugnacAutMortem]

Not quite sure but if she was recording - she needs your permission. Was she writing notes while you were talking? Was she asking those questions that reporters ask?

It was a phone conversation so I'm not sure about any notes. But she was calling as a frustrated customer, so that was pretty much the tone of our conversation. We actually had a pleasant conversation about the issue though, so I don't know what possessed her to write an article and use my name.