A Departing Employee Has Taken Your Client List, Data or Trade Secrets
A key employee has resigned and you suspect - or know - they have taken confidential information with them. Client lists, pricing schedules, supplier terms, source code, product formulas, strategic plans. This information represents years of competitive advantage and its misuse can cause irreparable harm to your business. The law provides remedies, but they depend on acting quickly and establishing that the information was genuinely confidential.
What You Need To Know
Confidential information is protected under both contract law (express or implied confidentiality obligations) and equity (the equitable duty of confidence). You do not need to have a written confidentiality clause to have enforceable rights, though having one makes enforcement easier.
To establish a breach of confidence, you must show that the information had the necessary quality of confidence, that it was disclosed in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence and that there was an unauthorised use or disclosure.
Client lists are protectable as confidential information where they contain more than publicly available contact details - for example, pricing, contract terms, purchasing patterns or relationship history that gives the list its commercial value.
Search orders (formerly Anton Piller orders) allow you to enter the former employee's premises and inspect and seize documents, devices and data. They are granted in exceptional cases where there is a real risk that evidence will be destroyed.
Forensic imaging of company devices (laptops, phones, USB drives) can reveal what files were accessed, copied, emailed or uploaded to cloud storage in the period before the employee left. This evidence is critical.
The employee's new employer may also be liable if they received the confidential information knowing (or having reason to know) it was obtained in breach of confidence.
What To Do Right Now
Lock down access immediately
Revoke the departing employee's access to all company systems, email, cloud storage, CRM, file servers and databases. If they have already left, check what access they had in their final days and what files were accessed, downloaded or forwarded.
Preserve the digital evidence
Do not wipe or reimage the employee's company laptop or phone. Arrange for a forensic image to be taken of all company devices the employee used. This will show what files were copied, when they were accessed and where they were sent.
Review their employment contract
Identify any confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, restraint of trade or non-solicitation clauses. These define the scope of the employee's obligations and the remedies available to you.
Identify what was taken
Work with your IT team to determine exactly what information the employee accessed or copied. Was it client lists? Pricing data? Source code? Strategic plans? The more specific you can be about what was taken and why it is commercially valuable, the stronger your case.
Engage a lawyer for urgent relief
If the information is being used or is at risk of being used, you may need an urgent injunction or search order. These applications require detailed affidavit evidence and move quickly. A lawyer experienced in confidential information disputes can assess your options and act fast.
How We Can Help
We act for businesses pursuing claims for misuse of confidential information, breach of fiduciary duty and infringement of intellectual property rights against departing employees and their new employers. We apply for injunctions to prevent further use or disclosure, seek search orders where evidence is at risk, pursue damages or an account of profits and coordinate with forensic IT specialists to build the evidentiary case.
Lock down systems access and preserve devices before the employee's last day.
Don't wait until your options narrow.
We can usually assess your position within a single consultation. Call us or send an enquiry and we will get back to you promptly.