Intellectual property (IP) is best defined as a category of intangible assets that are owned by someone (Merges, 2017). They are not physical and cannot either be held or felt. They are commonly associated with patents, copyrights, and trademarks. In our case, there exists an intellectual property, which is the client list. The client list recorded and kept by Sam represents a type of Intellectual property referred to as Trade Secrets. Trade secrets are certain intangible objects (Ideas) which a business can use to gain undue advantage over other competing company. There is no legal framework to support the trade secrets, and thus it is the responsibility of the business to ensure the secrets are not shared with outsiders. Perhaps driven by the desire to safeguard their inside information is not leaked to others, XYZ company committed Sam to a non-disclosure agreement.
Ethics
Ethics is often associated with morality. In fact, ethics is defined as the field of knowledge that is concerned with moral principles (Peters, 2015). Sam’s actions do not represent even an ounce of morality. First, he signed a non-disclosure agreement with XYZ Company, knowing well that he will be dealing with sensitive information. The non-disclosure agreement was to ensure he does not leak the vital information that belongs to XYZ Company that gives XYZ company advantage over its competitors. Despite having tied himself to this agreement, he goes on to leak this information on the promise of employment by ABC Paper Co. This is wrong no matter from what view it is looked. Sam is acting contrary to the initial agreement he had with XYZ Company. Lastly, when he is caught in the act of copying the client list to an external hard drive, he shoves Natalie aside as he runs away. Without even looking at the concussion Natalie suffered, the action itself of pushing Natalie away is morally wrong. Also by trying to run away, it is evident he was aware he was committing an act that was wrong. One would not run away after doing a right deed.
Torts
Sam actions
Tort is defined as a civil action, which can be either accidental or intentional which causes an injury to another person (Geistfield, 2017). A tort makes one be held criminally liable in a civil court. Tort is usually characterized by the following elements; duty, breach of duty, causation and injury. The injury is suffered after a breach of duty has occurred. Tort law is concerned with these wrong civil deeds, which cause harm to other persons, and the amount of compensation one is liable to pay to the plaintiff. There are three main types of tort; intentional, negligence and strict liability. However, there are other types of torts, most of which do not have considerable importance in the United States. These include property torts, dignitary torts, Economic torts, nuisance torts and duty to visitors’ tort.
Apparently, the first tort that Sam has committed is the intentional tort. The first scenario of the deliberate tort committed is by him agreeing to provide his client list to ABC paper Co. on the promise of employment. This is despite him being bound by the non-disclosure agreement. By leaking this information to ABC paper Co., the advantages that XYZ Company might have had over ABC Company will cease to exist. When you view a company, as a legal entity that is different from its owners, we see the XYZ Company will suffer as a result of the leak of the client list. Again after being found by Natalie copying the client list into an external hard disk, Sam tries to run away shoving Natalie in the process. Natalie falls and hits her head in the process and gets a concussion. Shoving is defined as the act of pushing someone roughly. In our case, the act of shoving Natalie falls under the class of intentional torts. This is because it was strictly intentional. He did this because Natalie had found him and as such was a means through which he would run away.
ABC Paper Co. actions
ABC paper Co also commits various types of torts most of which fall under the bracket of economic torts. Economic torts or business torts are usually wrongful acts, which typically result in business losses being incurred by the plaintiff. The first type is the conspiracy/civil, economic tort. This is defined as a type of tort where two parties work in tandem to deprive another individual of his legal property or rights. Although ensuring the secrecy of trade secrets is the ultimate responsibility of an organization, by the association tying down its staff with non-disclosure agreements highlights the legality of the trade secrets.
ABC Paper Co. is liable for this tort because it secretly conspired with Sam an employee of XYZ to leak the XYZ company client list. Apparently, XYZ Company is bound to suffer from these leaking of information. Again ABC Paper Co. is liable for the tortuous interference economic tort. This is a type of tort whereby one interferes with the business relationships of another individual. ABC Paper Co. by acquiring the XYZ Company client list will eventually interfere with the relationship that exists between XYZ Company and its client list. It is no secret that ABC paper Co. wants to take over XYZ company clients. To do this, they need the XYZ client list and an employee; who in this case is Sam. As earlier said these eventually would interfere with the business relationship that exists between XYZ Company and its group of clients.
Criminal liability
Sam’s actions subject him to criminal liability in our case. First despite the fact that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement, he goes on further to share the XYZ company client list. This is a criminal offense since the disclosure agreement was put in place to prevent him from sharing XYZ company trade secret with other rival companies. Again, he is criminally liable for the health damages he caused on Natalie. He shoves Natalie as he tries to run away, making her hit her head in the process. The act of shoving is intentional, and thus he can be held liable for the damages he caused on Natalie.
References
Geistfeld, M. A. (2017). Conceptualizing the Intentional Torts. Journal of Tort Law.
Merges, R. P. (2017). What Kind of Rights Are Intellectual Property Rights?.
Peters, R. S. (2015). Ethics and Education (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
