Multinational companies, like hotel companies, often face challenges in enforcing claims against their employees and agents located in foreign jurisdictions. In December 2012, a federal appeals court decision — MacDermid, Inc. v. Deiter, No. 11-5388-cv (2nd Cir. Dec. 26, 2012) — made enforcement a bit easier when a company goes after employees who commit cyber theft beyond U.S. borders.
In this case, a Connecticut-based chemical company employed an account representative in Canada, and when the employee learned that she was to be terminated, downloaded to her personal email account data files that the company alleged were confidential and proprietary. The company sued the employee “alleging unauthorized access and misuse of a computer system and misappropriation of trade secrets.” The terminated employee moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court agreed with the Canadian employee because she had not used a computer in Connecticut. The Court of Appeals, however, held that jurisdiction over the defendant employee in Connecticut, where she had never physically visited, was established when she intentionally accessed the Connecticut servers. Read more
Published in: http://www.hospitalitynet.org
By: Robert E. Braun and Michael A. Gold
