Re: Corporate policy question - Personal Laptops

["Michael Boman" <michael.boman () gmail com>]

I am not a lawyer, and I urge you to get real legal advice from one.

In my laymen understanding of the law you would damage his property
(you will destroy all the files on the laptop) and open yourself up to
a long legal process, most likely with a negative outcome. Unless
there is something in the policy that allows you to wipe the laptop
before returning it (and that policy has to been in effect in the
company he was originally employed by, as I doubt he has agreed to any
new policies of the merged company). I am not even sure if you would
be allowed to even turn the machine on, as it is not your company's
property.

Save yourself, and your company, a lot of headache and contact a real
lawyer practicing in your area.

Best regards
Michael Boman

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 7:53 PM, Tom Yarrish <cdtdelta () gmail com> wrote:
> Hey all,
> Needed some advice on a corporate policy issue.  If an employee has a
> personal laptop in the office, and that employee is terminated in the
> process of a merger, can the company wipe the hard drive of the
> personal computer before it's returned to that employee?  Here's the
> scenario:
>
> Our company is going through a merger, and through the rounds of
> "integration" of the two companies, employees that are let go from the
> IT department are escorted out of the building immediately, and not
> allowed to return. Their manager packs up their personal affects and
> ships it to them.  In one case, the employee had some personal laptops
> in their office, and wants them back (obviously).  Are we allowed to
> wipe the hard drive of that personal laptop before giving it back to
> the employee?
>
> I'm trying to determine if this is even legal or not, so I'm not sure
> where to look for advice.
>
> Thanks ahead of time....



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