Sunday, October 16, 2011

Ex-employee must disclose online contacts, rules UK court



http://ow.ly/6YJLw

This is an article posted on the out-law.com website, no author credit is provided.

The article discusses the use of LinkedIn by an employee who left his company to start a rival entity.  The ex-employee is accused of using LinkedIn to try and steal clients from his former employee.

The article discusses the opinion of Justice Richards, whom presided over the UK based case, ""If the information was confidential, it was Mr Ions' action in uploading the email addresses which involved a transfer of information to a site where at least the details of those addresses who accepted his invitation would be accessible by him after his employment had ceased."

"The evidence suggests that he may have done so, not for the benefit of Hays but for the benefit of his post-termination business," he wrote. "If so, even if confidentiality in the information was thereafter lost, Hays may well have a claim against Mr Ions.""

The article goes on to state, "Ions was ordered to disclose his LinkedIn business contacts requested by Hays and all emails sent to or received by his LinkedIn account from Hays' computer network. Ions was also ordered to disclose all documents, including invoices and emails, evidencing his use of the LinkedIn contacts and any business obtained from them. Ions was told to ask LinkedIn for the documents."

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