Plaintiff-Side Employment Cases: Getting the Employer’s Meeting Recordings and AI Transcripts Before They Are Deleted

Sean H. Sobel, Founding Attorney | Sobel Law Solutions, LLC

Sean H. Sobel is the Founding Attorney of Sobel Law Solutions, LLC in Cleveland, Ohio, where he represents employees in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, FMLA, severance and non-compete matters across the state. His current docket includes a federal Americans with Disabilities Act case and a Title VII and Ohio R.C. 4112 harassment, discrimination and retaliation case, both in active discovery, alongside an Age Discrimination in Employment Act collective action and federal FMLA retaliation litigation. Clients work directly with him rather than with a paralegal or junior associate.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Sobel earned his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is admitted to practice in Ohio, before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Super Lawyers has recognized Mr. Sobel for 14 consecutive years, naming him a Rising Star every year from 2014 through 2025 and selecting him to the full Super Lawyers list for 2026 and 2027. He holds a 10.0 “Superb” Avvo rating and has been named one of the Three Best Rated Top 3 Employment Lawyers in Cleveland.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Sobel presented Session 1 of “Separation and Release Agreements When the Clause Itself Is the Violation” through the Federal Bar Association CLE program and myLawCLE on October 29, 2026. With Andrew November, he authored “When Severance Agreements Bar ERISA Long-Term Disability Claims” in the January/February 2026 issue of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal. He also maintains a national Title IX practice, advising complainants and respondents and conducting independent investigations for colleges and universities.

• Experience

Mr. Sobel founded Sobel Law Solutions, LLC in March 2026 after more than fifteen years in practice. His federal litigation includes ADA discrimination, FMLA retaliation, ADEA collective actions, Section 1983 due process, and pregnancy discrimination matters. In Ohio state court, he represents employees in Title VII and R.C. 4112 sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation litigation. His practice also encompasses wage and hour, sales commission, whistleblower and qui tam, physician and executive contracts, and physician discipline and peer review.

Erica Roberts, Attorney | Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP

Erica Roberts is an attorney at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP, where she represents individuals alleging gender and race discrimination and retaliation against their employers, including high tech companies and law firms. She has written on how AI hiring platforms and “cultural fit” assessments can be analyzed for bias and on what an employment discrimination lawsuit over AI looks like, and her practice extends to qui tam whistleblower and public interest litigation on behalf of governments, individuals and classes.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Roberts earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and her B.A. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. During law school she interned for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and three law firms, served as a Pro Bono Scholar with the Expunction Project, and was a student attorney in the Immigration Clinic. She is admitted to the bars of Texas (2023) and the District of Columbia (2024).

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Roberts co-authored “How AI ‘Cultural Fit’ Assessments Can Be Analyzed For Bias” (Law360, November 2023) and the three-part series “Was I Discriminated Against by AI?”, which covers AI screening of job applications, bias in AI hiring platforms, and what an employment discrimination lawsuit looks like. Her other writing includes co-authored pieces on race-based hair protections (Law360, July 2024) and the legal rights of LGBTQ employees in D.C. (Washington Blade, May 2024), a 2024 letter supporting California Senate Bill 1137, and 2026 articles for The Anti-Fraud Coalition on relator shares and CFTC whistleblower awards.

• Professional Involvement

Before joining the firm, Ms. Roberts clerked for Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. She has also co-authored a three-part series on the wage gap and equal pay and a six-part series on government fraud enforcement.

• Experience

Ms. Roberts represents individuals bringing gender and race discrimination and retaliation claims against employers, including high tech companies and law firms. She is counsel in a race discrimination class action on behalf of current and former African American Deputy U.S. Marshals and Detention Enforcement Officers, and in a class action for former West Monroe Partners employees over ESOP stock cash-outs. Her qui tam work includes representing the whistleblower whose allegations that Invitation Homes skipped required renovation permits in California cities led to a $19.9 million settlement, sealed and unsealed qui tam suits, and representation of local governments suing opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy benefit managers.

Tracey Zhang, Attorney | Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP

Tracey Zhang is an attorney in the Washington, DC office of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP, where her matters include the West Monroe Partners Employee Stock Ownership Plan ERISA class action. She joined the firm after clerkships in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and prior practice at Cleary Gottlieb.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Zhang earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.S.F.S., cum laude, from Georgetown University. At Georgetown Law she was Senior Notes Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, a student attorney in the Civil Rights Clinic, a research assistant for Professor Emma Jordan, and vice president of the Women of Color Collective. She is admitted to the District of Columbia bar (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Zhang received CALI awards and Special Pro Bono Pledge Recognition for more than 100 hours of pro bono service during law school. She is the author of “Making Inclusionary Zoning More Inclusive,” published in the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy in Fall 2019.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Zhang clerked for the Hon. Arenda L. Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and for the Hon. Gregory A. Phillips of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Before her clerkships she practiced at Cleary Gottlieb.

• Experience

At Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Ms. Zhang’s matters include the West Monroe Partners Employee Stock Ownership Plan ERISA class action. Her litigation background combines a district court clerkship, a federal appellate clerkship, her earlier practice at Cleary Gottlieb, and student-attorney work in the Georgetown Law Civil Rights Clinic.

SESSION 1 – Preserving Employer Meeting Recordings and AI Transcripts From Intake Through the EEOC Charge | Erica Roberts & Tracey Zhang | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session teaches employee-side employment lawyers how to preserve an employer’s Teams, Zoom and notetaker-bot recordings, transcripts and AI summaries from first intake through the EEOC charge, before default expiration and audit-log aging erase them. The hour covers common AI platforms that retain records, types of AI retention policies and settings, intake questions aimed at discovering AI usage, considerations and draft language for preservation letters, anticipated privilege defenses, and 29 C.F.R. § 1602.14 considerations.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Requesting Employer Meeting Recordings and AI Summaries in Discovery and Proving Their Deletion | Sean H. Sobel | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session teaches employee-side employment counsel how to request employer Teams recordings, Copilot recaps, Zoom AI Companion summaries and notetaker-bot transcripts in federal discovery. The hour covers how to break down a “no documents responsive” answer, what to ask the IT administrator at a 30(b)(6) deposition, how to build the trigger-date and deletion record, and how to play the audio against a manager.