Litigation

Two Computer Fraud Cases Reach Opposite Results on Motions to Dismiss

By H. William Allen et al.

Employees accessed computer files of their employer, and they later set up their own competing firm. This was the situation in Ervin & Smith Advertising v. BTM, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8096 (Feb. 3, 2009) and Lasco Foods, Inc. v. Hall and Shaw Sales, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4241 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 22, 2009). Both former employers brought claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the former employees moved to dismiss.

In Ervin, the court recognized that employees exceed their authorization when they access files for personal gain and denied the motion to dismiss. However, in Lasco, the former employer failed to allege that the former employees exceeded their authorized access. The court granted the motion to dismiss.

Full post as published by Arkansas Business Litigation Blog on February 16, 2009 (boomark / email).