In this case, in which Lewis Silkin acted for Nissan, the High Court made clear that wanting documents for legal advice was no justification for retaining confidential information in breach of contract.
Mr Passi was employed by Nissan as Global General Counsel. Following the termination of his employment, he brought proceedings in the Employment Tribunal (ET) claiming unfair dismissal and other claims, which are denied. As part of the ET proceedings, he disclosed that he had retained over 100 documents that constituted or contained Nissan’s confidential information and/or privileged legal advice. Nissan applied to the High Court for interim injunctions requiring Mr Passi to deliver up the documents, destroy all copies in his possession and provide a witness statement explaining what use he had made of the information.
Employers enjoy only limited implied protection after termination for “mere” confidential information. Implied duties will only protect “trade secrets” from misuse, which are typically limited to things like confidential algorithms, designs, formulae and (possibly) highly secret business strategies.
This leaves departing...
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