Former Green Bay City Council member Chris Wery sued Mayor Eric Genrich and the City of Green Bay on March 2, alleging that prior installation of audio recorders at City Hall violated Wisconsin’s laws on privacy and surveillance, as well as the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches.
In a 13-page complaint filed at the Brown County Courthouse through the New Berlin-based law office of Kevin M. Scott, Wery pegged his grievances to much of what was discussed in 2023 during city-level meetings and courtroom hearings, a matter later settled outside of court.
There were three recording devices installed in the ceilings of City Hall, which the city has said was done between winter 2021 and summer 2022 because of three incidents of verbal assault.
The lawsuit says Genrich had a personal motive “to intercept and record private conversations of citizens, government employees, and those he considered political enemies,” and that, “Genrich acted with reckless or callous disregard for constitutionally protected rights.” Wery’s complaint claims Genrich’s actions “intruded upon personal privacy interests,” portraying his lawsuit as a fight to keep public actors accountable so that “government actors cannot evade legal constraints while secretly monitoring the very citizens and officials they serve.”
Genrich, city attorney Lacey Cochart, and city communications director Michael Bergman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Intrusion is considered a tort – something, or the lack of something, that causes harm. It’s usually based on how information was gathered, unlike trespass, which depends on where the tort happened.
Successful tort claims let individuals get damages for intrusion into private spaces, conversations, or matters. To claim intrusion, people must show they have both a reasonable expectation of privacy where they are, and that the violation of privacy would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. Privacy laws are state-dependent. It is generally illegal to hide recording devices that capture what happens in private places defined as having reasonable expectations of privacy. In a public space, though, there is typically no reasonable expectation of privacy.
The complaint presents City Hall activities in the hallway as being unable to be overheard if not for audio recording devices.
According to the complaint: The public, City Council members, and attorneys often had conversations “in low voices” in the first- and second-floor hallways of City Hall about personal matters, city business, legal affairs, and political discussions. City Council members often met in these hallways at the end of the night after meetings, claiming these discussions were considered private. The discussions “could not have been heard but for the listening devices as one cannot hear a discussion in the hallway of the first or second floor from one end to the other or from a hallway to the room.” The lawsuit says Wery had a “subjective expectation to privacy” when having these talks in City Hall.
A 2023 analysis by the Wisconsin Legislative Council said that in a place like a government building, things that could provide someone with a “reasonable expectation of privacy” include speaking at a low volume away from others.
The complaint says Genrich approved installing the audio recording devices “for the purpose of monitoring these conversations, including ones involving plaintiff, that he could not otherwise hear.” The recording devices were “monitored in real time” and were available for the city’s police, law, and information technology departments to review, along with Genrich, the lawsuit says.
The city has denied continuous monitoring by city staff. It has said its security system “is lawful and commonplace” in the police department lobby and onboard the transit system. It also pointed to the Wisconsin Legislative Council’s analysis that didn’t “detail serious legal concerns” and that security cameras with audio recordings didn’t violate Wisconsin’s surveillance laws. The city’s lawyers have previously argued in court that City Hall was “a quintessential public place.” Ted Waskowski, an attorney representing the city during the 2023 lawsuit, claimed speech could remain private with expectations of privacy by moving into a closed space, like a closed room, rather than staying in the hallway.
The previous lawsuit against the city over this matter was settled in July 2024 with former City Council member Tony Theisen for $100,000 and state Sen. Andre Jacque, R-Scott, for $200,000 and an affirmation to not reinstall audio recording devices.
The lawsuit says Wisconsin’s surveillance law was broken, claiming one count against the city and Genrich for recording Wery’s conversations without his consent. It also alleges the city and Genrich violated the state’s privacy laws as Wery “would’ve never expected Genrich to listen to private conversations.”
The lawsuit cites the Fourth Amendment, arguing that the city and Genrich, in his capacity as mayor and personally, violated Wery’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure. “It is clearly established federal law that the Fourth Amendment rights extend to recording oral statements where there is a legitimate expectation of privacy,” the complaint says.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. He also writes a weekly column answering reader questions about Green Bay. Contact and send him questions at 920-834-4250 or jlin@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Former City Council member sues Green Bay, mayor over audio recordings
Reporting by Jesse Lin, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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