The case of Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright, 204 N.J. 239 (2010), spurred much debate among legal commentators about whether the court was sanctioning employee theft of documents or other misdeeds in aid of enforcement of antidiscrimination statutes. In the words of Justice Albin, in his dissent: “Today’s ruling sends a disturbing signal to both the business community and the bar that employee theft may actually pay.” Quinlan left unresolved exactly how its holding would be squared with conflicting employee obligations under state and federal statutes prohibiting employee misconduct, such as statutes prohibiting the pilfering of confidential data, hacking of email, or even illegal recording of co-workers or supervisors.
The majority in State v. Saavedra, 2013 WL 6763248 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 24, 2013), has ruled that nothing in Quinlan requires an employer to avoid pursuing criminal charges against an employee who is believed to have stolen confidential documents. The court ruled that a former public employee will be permitted to stand trial on criminal allegations of theft of “highly confidential original documents” from her employer, the North Bergen Board of Education. The employee claimed as her defense that she only did so to gather evidence to support civil claims of harassment and retaliation against the board (which claims were later dismissed). The court’s decision in Saavedra makes clear that employee “self-help discovery” is a dangerous proposition, even when the employee claims to be seeking evidence for a discrimination claim.
Background on Quinlan
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