Pac-Man Champ’s Secret Taping Suit Dropped by Florida Justices

An arcade legend’s lawsuit over surreptitious phone call recording was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court Thursday in a win for businesses and journalists who record cross-state conversations.

After taking briefing and holding oral arguments, the state’s high court unanimously dismissed an appeal brought by Billy Mitchell, who has held world records on numerous games including “Pac-Man,” “Donkey Kong,” and “BurgerTime.” Mitchell argued that an out-of-state investigator recording their phone call about alleged cheating at games violated the state’s Florida Security of Communication Act—a statute that requires both parties to a conversation to consent to recording.

Instead of addressing the appeals court decision—that the investigator didn’t have sufficient contacts with Florida to be dragged into state court—the justices dropped the appeal because they found there wasn’t a conflict on the law among state appeallate court districts.

The high court’s decision leaves the Fourth District’s opinion as the law of the state, strengthening defenses by the media industry and others against claims that secretly recording calls makes them liable for damages when the calls originate out-of-state.

Hunker Paxton Appeals & Trials and James Stepan of Hollywood, Fla., represent Mitchell. Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. represent the defendant.

The case is Mitchell v. Race, Fla., No. SC2023-0432, 11/7/24.