In Mislavsky v. Mislavsky, decided by the New Jersey Appellate Division in August 2004, the Court upheld a trial judge’s award of punitive damages for violation of the New Jersey Wiretap Act resulting from one spouse’s recording of a telephone conversation between the other spouse and a third party on the violator’s telephone line.

The facts involved playing the recording to the parties’ children and a “lack of remorse” for such actions at trial. The result was an award of actual damages, as set by statute, and punitive damages consisting of a denial of various marital assets to the violator totaling at least $35,000.

Note: the case was sent back to the trial judge to fix a specific monetary amount of damages instead of the above.