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Case law: employer's access to ex-employee's contacts on social networking site - 01/08/2008
An employee of a specialist recruitment company left, after six and a half years, to set up his own HR business. In the course of his employment, he had been encouraged by his employer to invite clients to join his network on a social networking site. After the employee left, however, the company argued that he was using client details from his old employment for the purposes of his new business, in breach of contractual terms that prevented him from using confidential information and from soliciting clients for a period of six months.
The judge rejected the employee's argument, that once the client details were loaded on the site with the employer's authority they ceased to be confidential, stating that the authority was limited to using those details in the performance of his duties for the employer. As a result, the employee was ordered to disclose the business contacts requested by his employer and all emails sent to his account on the site from the employer's computer network. He was also ordered to disclose all documents showing his use of the contacts and any business obtained from them.
Recommendation
Employers should check that confidentiality clauses in employees' contracts of employment cover an ex-employee's profile on a social networking site, which might otherwise be beyond the employer's reach.
Related Resources
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