Who is employer confidential

The Globe and Mail successfully sued former reporter and columnist Jan Wong for just such a breach. In a related case, I was consulted by a sales employee who sent copies of confidential client materials to his personal email address to print at his home office to work in the evening.

Although this can always be problematic depending on the sensitivity of the materials and the inherent risk of disclosure through unsecured personal email servers, it was exacerbated because the employee had provided his employer with notice of resignation only days before — advising that he was joining a competitor. It believed him to be stockpiling confidential client materials for use at the competitor. Whether believing the company or simply not wanting to risk a lawsuit, the new employer pre-emptively withdrew its offer, leaving the employee, without a job and with a reputation in tatters.

Neither employer would provide a reference, the former believing he had attempted to steal confidential information and the latter being unable to say anything about his work since he was fired before he started. He practises employment law in eight provinces. Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

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Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Register Now. Only record and share confidential information as appropriate. Limit disclosure to those who need to know — the more valuable the confidential information, the more limited its disclosure should be. It is also important to put in place systems to restrict access to confidential information such as by using password protection or user access controls for electronic data and to monitor such access and use.

Again, there is little use in having systems in place to control access if those systems are not used. Finally, your business should have standard procedures for dealing with departing employees.

Among other things, those procedures need to deal with the issue of corporate confidential information. In particular, at the exit interview, remind the employee of their continuing confidentiality obligations and require the employee to hand over personal electronic devices laptops, tablets and smartphones. If you later become concerned that the employee may have taken confidential information when they left, a forensic analysis of computer systems will be critical in determining what action to take next.

Finally, and most importantly, investigate concerns and take swift action where appropriate. If your business is concerned that an employee may have taken confidential information, seek legal advice and take action to prevent the information being used or further disclosed.

Failure to do so could lead your business into the type of situation described in the opening paragraphs of this article — a narrative that is not hypothetical but rather is based on the facts of a case in which we recently acted.

Back to article. Get in touch information is loading. Clayton Utz communications are intended to provide commentary and general information. They should not be relied upon as legal advice. Formal legal advice should be sought in particular transactions or on matters of interest arising from this communication. Persons listed may not be admitted in all States and Territories. In relation to the equitable duty of confidence, the High Court found that: The employees were in breach of implied terms in their contracts of employment and were in breach of equitable obligations of confidence owed to Trailfinders.

TCL was in breach of an equitable duty of confidence to Trailfinders. The Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal confirmed the following key points: An obligation of confidence will arise where a recipient of the information knows, or has notice, that the information is being disclosed in breach of confidence. If, in the particular circumstances, a reasonable person would have made enquiries as to whether the information was confidential, but the recipient of the information does not, then there will be an equitable duty of confidence.

Whether a reasonable person would make enquiries, and, if so, what enquiries, is inevitably context- and fact-dependent. Section of the Data Protection Act provides that it is an offence knowingly or recklessly to obtain or disclose personal data without the consent of the data controller.

Prosecutions are not unheard of. Send Print Report. Dechert LLP. Jennifer Hill.