It is increasingly common for employees pursuing claims against their employer to use their access to files and databases to gather, in blatant violation of company policy, confidential documents and data that they believe are relevant to their claims. Counsel often becomes aware of this misconduct during an internal investigation or after litigation is commenced, often when the employee or former employee’s work computer is imaged and analyzed. But an employer may not become aware of misconduct until after the employee has filed a charge or a lawsuit, when confidential company documents are referenced in the charge or complaint, or even attached as an exhibit to a pleading.
Consider the following scenarios:
- An employee images his company laptop hours before a scheduled termination meeting.
- A former employee logs on to the company network and downloads to an external “cloud” information concerning your customers and marketing plans.
- A former employee has a current employee and friend send him confidential documents, including proprietary product design plans, of the company, intended to boost his case or develop a competing product.
- A current employee downloads hundreds of documents, including corporate compensation and salary lists, immediately before her computer access is terminated.
