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: The Trade Secrets Vault

Bloggers beware: a cautionary tale of blogging and the doctrine of at-will employment.

From the halls of academia... Tracie Watson, Elisabeth Piro 24 Hofstra Lab. & Emp. L.J. 333 (Winter 2007) [Trade Secrets section of article] D. Trade Secrets and Blogging Based upon the principles of law set forth in the Religious Tech cases, there is little doubt that an at-will employee who chooses to post information regarding his employer's trade secrets on a blog, will retain his employment. The doctrine of at-will employment enables an employer to fire an employee with or without cause. In light of the increased use of the internet as means to dispel trade secrets, employers certainly have great cause for concern. The internet, and blogs in particular, present a fast, easy and affordable way for an employee to post his employer's trade secrets in an effort to perhaps take revenge against his employer for not giving him the raise he wanted. As such, it has become necessary for employees to enact precautionary measures, such as security schemes, in order to protect their trade secrets. Although an employer has a right to fire an employee based upon the doctrine of at-will employment for misappropriation, and that employee may be held directly liable for his actions, the cost to an employer of losing a trade secret can be a large one - including the loss of a business.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on January 07, 2008 (boomark / email).