Does an employer have recourse when a whistleblower steals confidential information?
Does an employer have recourse when a whistleblower steals confidential information? Companies routinely require employees to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements. These “NDAs” advance the employer’s entirely legitimate interest in protecting confidential and proprietary information. However, a question that often arises is the following: what recourse does an employer have when it learns that, on the way out the door, a former employee accessed extensive confidential information and sent it to their own personal email? Can the employer sue the former employee for breach of contract? Will the employer prevail? This is a topic which courts across the country continue to wrestle with. Resolving the issue requires striking a balance between an employer’s legitimate business interests and the rights of whistleblowers to preserve information needed to advance their legal claims. While the law remains unsettled, most courts consider the following three factors in deciding whether to side with th...