Confidential Information
Dutton International Ltd. v Bizco Associates Ltd. and Others HH Judge Howarth August 1998
Employees of a recruitment agency removed files belonging to their employer with a view to canvassing its clients on behalf of their own competing company. One of their computers happened to be serviced by a maintenance contractor that also serviced the claimant's equipment. The contractor noticed the claimant's files on the defendants' machine and told the claimant what it had seen.
The claimant's solicitors consulted me and I advised them to apply immediately for a Doorstep Piller order. They accepted my advice and asked me to settle the appropriate paperwork and make the application to a Chancery judge.
The application was granted. The expert whom I recommended was able to recover other files of the claimant on other machines. Although the defendants lodged a defence, negotiations between the parties resulted in a settlement that was very satisfactory to the claimant.
