The Los Angeles Times and the union that represents Los Angeles County employees have been at odds after the LA Times reported on racist comments made by now former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez.

In a leaked audio recording, Martinez called another councilmember’s black son an “accessory” and also called him “a little monkey” in Spanish. She called councilmember Mike Bonin “a little bitch” and said LA County District Attorney George Gascon was “with the blacks”, among other comments.

Julie Gutman Dickinson, an attorney for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, sent a formal letter to the Times before it published its report. In the letter, she claimed the audio was recorded illegally. She added the newspaper could face legal ramifications if it published a story based on the recording.

“If the LA Times publishes this illegal recording, or information contained within it, it is condoning this illegal conduct and subjecting itself to potential liability,” Gutman Dickinson said. “It is imperative for this reason, and to avoid harm to innocent people, that the LA Times refrains from publishing anything from the illegal recording. And under no circumstances should the illegal recording itself be published.”

Times reporter Matt Pearce made the newspaper’s response public on Twitter. Jeff Glasser, an attorney for the paper, contends the county’s labor union insinuation that legal action could be taken is “contrary to United States and California Supreme Court constitutional law”. The letter goes on to say the comments made by Martinez “easily qualify as matters of interest to the public”.

This isn’t the first time the LA Times has had to defend the legality of its reporting. Earlier this year, reporter Alene Tchekmedyian was investigated by Sheriff Alex Villanueva after she received leaked materials. After intense public backlash, the Sheriff ended his investigation.