The Inbox - May 16, 2012

| Jason M. Knott

Here's a roundup of this week's news involving suits by suits:

  • An insurance company can’t subpoena its former employees’ private e-mail and phone records from Yahoo and Verizon, says a U.S. magistrate judge. Judge Geraldine Brown ruled that the subpoenas violated the Stored Communications Act, which she said creates a zone of privacy to protect against disclosure to unauthorized parties. If the employees’ Yahoo inboxes are anything like mine, the subpoenas would have just turned up a bunch of spam anyway.  Courthouse News Service.
  • New York’s highest court rejected a hedge fund compliance officer’s claim that he was wrongfully terminated after he confronted the fund’s CEO about selling personal stock before engaging in client transactions. The court said that under New York law, an employer can fire an at-will employee at any time except in very rare circumstances, and cited to SEC whistleblower protections as an alternative remedy. The compliance officer’s lawyer pooh-poohed the SEC as “not putting any teeth into enforcement,” so he probably shouldn’t expect a holiday card from Mary Schapiro.  Washington Post.
  • A Louisiana court of appeals has reversed a summary judgment ruling against Grambling State’s former head coach, Rick Duckett, who is suing the university for wrongful termination. He argues that he relied to his detriment on representations that the university made about his salary before he moved from South Carolina to Louisiana to take the job. Now that he can go to trial, he may be calling for the “full-court press.”  Courthouse News Service.
  • Robert McAfee, a former executive for IntegraClick, a fast-growing Internet marketer, has sued the company in Florida, claiming that he was terminated because he refused to heed the founder’s request to delete documents before the Federal Trade Commission could ask for them. IntegraClick explained his departure and those of other executives as resulting from “certain inflection points in [the company’s] growth cycle.” Five points to anyone who can explain that to me.  Herald-Tribune.

Information provided on InsightZS should not be considered legal advice and expressed views are those of the authors alone. Readers should seek specific legal guidance before acting in any particular circumstance.

As the regulatory and business environments in which our clients operate grow increasingly complex, we identify and offer perspectives on significant legal developments affecting businesses, organizations, and individuals. Each post aims to address timely issues and trends by evaluating impactful decisions, sharing observations of key enforcement changes, or distilling best practices drawn from experience. InsightZS also features personal interest pieces about the impact of our legal work in our communities and about associate life at Zuckerman Spaeder.

Information provided on InsightZS should not be considered legal advice and expressed views are those of the authors alone. Readers should seek specific legal guidance before acting in any particular circumstance.