Employment – Disclosure of Information – Breach of Trust

The defendant resigned and found employment with one of the plaintiff’s competitors. Shortly after his resignation, the plaintiff discovered that the defendant had sent three emails to his personal email account before leaving the company. The emails in question:

* Presentations you had made to the claimant’s clients;

* Comments that clients had given in relation to the claimant’s services; Y

* Prices of the claimant’s products.

The plaintiff believed that the information contained in the emails was confidential and therefore violated the terms of the defendant’s employment contract. The plaintiff confronts the defendant with his discovery.

The defendant said that she had sent the emails to her personal email account by mistake and offered to allow the plaintiff to view her personal email account to show that she had not breached the terms of her contract. The plaintiff tried to persuade the defendant to remain in his employment, but was unsuccessful.

Plaintiff then instructed his attorneys to write to Defendant alleging that Defendant had breached the terms of his employment, amounting to a breach of trust. Plaintiff also requested the return of all of her materials that were in Defendant’s possession. The defendant replied to the letter stating that the emails were not sent to anyone else, and that once the error was discovered, she had not even opened them.

The applicant did not respond to his letter. Instead, they initiated a process against him and requested a precautionary measure. They alleged that sending emails to her personal account amounted to her ‘using’ confidential information in contravention of her contractual obligations. They also alleged that by not promptly returning her materials, she had further breached the terms of her contract.

The lawsuit was dismissed. The court held that when the emails had remained unopened, the confidential information had not been ‘used’ in a way that amounted to a breach of confidentiality. Although he had not immediately returned the materials, he had previously offered the claimant permission to view her personal email account and delete emails related to the claimant’s confidential information.

In addition to this, the court held that the information that was the subject of the claimant’s complaint was wholly innocuous and that the claimant had reacted in a wholly disproportionate manner. The matter should not have been taken to court and the defendant’s undertakings had been adequate.

© RT COOPERS, 2006. This Information Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. Its sole purpose is to highlight general issues. Specialized legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.