According to the latest news, jobs have dropped by another 95,000 in the past month and unemployment continues to hover at 9.6%. In short, things do not appear to be improving and it is likely that we will continue to see workforce reductions until they do.
I ran across this article today (top item), which reports that a former Bank of America Corp. computer programmer has been accused in a lawsuit by the bank of stealing 21 confidential files the day before he was to be fired as part of a 400 employee workforce reduction. Bank of America is seeking a court order requiring the employee to return the files, plus unspecified damages. The files apparently included profit-and-loss figures, current securities trading positions and company risk assessments. Bank of America discovered the theft through a security review of large files sent by employees to e-mail addresses outside the company.
This story has a couple of lessons. First, companies need to be pro-active about protecting their trade secrets rather than simply relying on policies. Bank of America had security procedures in place that worked – do you? In my experience, employees who lose their jobs involuntarily are much more likely to try to harm their former employer in some way to gain an advantage for themselves. If you are planning a workforce reduction in this economy, protection of trade secrets should be a priority. Consider the following:
Before:
- Make sure policies are up to date and adequately protect trade secrets;
- Audit personnel files to ensure that employees have signed confidentiality and non-compete agreements in place;
- Ensure that you have taken adequate steps to protect trade secrets by limiting access to documents, including electronic access;
- Conduct periodic training to remind employees of their obligations;
- Develop security procedures to ensure that documents cannot be removed without authorization – work with your information technology department to set up electronic monitoring and protections;
- Consider banning the use of all USB devices on company computers;
During:
- Step up monitoring and other security procedures to ensure that confidential information cannot be removed;
- Promptly recover keys from terminated employees and lock out passwords and other access to computer systems;
- Promptly recover all company electronics capable of storing data, e.g. laptops, PDAs and telephones;
- Supervise the removal of personal items by terminated employees;
- Conduct exit interviews during which employees should be reminded of on-going obligations;
- Provide employees with copies of agreements governing post-employment conduct;
After:
- Continue monitoring for a period of time to ensure that terminated employees do not attempt to access company systems or persuade former co-workers to provide access or documents;
- Aggressively pursue any breaches of restrictive covenants.
- Partner
Mark Chumley has experience representing management in all aspects of labor and employment law. He has handled numerous cases before state and federal courts and state and federal civil rights agencies, including claims ...
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