I had an employee leave, before she did she deleted quite a bit of contact information in her Outlook file. She printed it out and took it with her as she is staying in the same line of work. Now I'm stuck putting this information back together, as I need someone else to contact these accounts. Is what she did against any sort of law?
2007-02-13 07:53:41 · 7 answers · asked by Wesleystock 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I was able to retrieve the info (didn't tell here that). But now she has contacted another employee asking about what supplier we used to get certain products, as well as spoken poorly about us at a dinner party...people forget it's a small world. Funny things to do when she left with a hug and little tears on "good" terms. I don't want anything but to maybe give her a little scare.
2007-02-13 09:12:22 · update #1
Did you have a contract with her that specified any sort of data retention? It would be very hard to prove malicious destruction of company property and expensive to go after her. On her side she could claim she was worried about privacy issues on her computer. This is actually a very mild case, come employees have done real damage to their employers (copying financial records, business plans, wiping corporate drives, etc).
This is why many companies escort people who have been fired or resigned out of the building immediately.
2007-02-13 08:03:02 · answer #1 · answered by Bruce H 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Unless she deleted program files or accounts, there's likely no criminal charges applicable.
You could sue her, and probably should, but ultimately you would have to prove up your damages. Her taking the contact info for possible future clients would be speculative damages and not compensable.
You may want to write her a letter via certified mail demanding that she return all files, materials, contact info, etc., or you will proceed with legal action against her. Another employee could call her and remind her "It's a small world, and having the reputation as a thief is not a good thing."
By the way, as the prior poster mentioned, your files aren't gone, you can easily restore them. Any techno geek kid can do it.
2007-02-13 08:41:45 · answer #2 · answered by gw_bushisamoron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the employee brought the contact information with them when they took the position with your company, they are completely in the right to remove them when they leave.
If the contacts were developed while under employment with your company, then it's intellectual theft (albeit a really hard one to prove).
Basically, you can't get the employee for "real" damages, but you MIGHT get her for "speculative" damages.
2007-02-13 08:45:26 · answer #3 · answered by CanTexan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would think it would be considered as destroying assets, or even STEALING assets, since she apparently plans to use the information (which YOU paid for her to collect) in her new position.
It might be smart to just lock up her computer (so you can prove nothing has been touched) and talk to a lawyer...
Good luck!
2007-02-13 08:01:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, you can't ever delete anything on any computer, it stays in the system forever.. They can go in on any computer forever and retrieve anything you have on your computer, deleting means nothing, it just gets off or rather out of your sight.
2007-02-13 08:02:15 · answer #5 · answered by Nicki 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
if there files that belong to the company and not her yeah maybe its illegal its called stealing
2007-02-13 08:01:31 · answer #6 · answered by the great one 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
YES! Have her arrested!
2007-02-13 08:06:09 · answer #7 · answered by Bigdog 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋