Manager Who Deleted Work Files from Laptop After Firing Notice Sentenced to Prison

A company manager who arbitrarily deleted work-related files from a company-issued laptop that he was required to return after receiving a notice of dismissal has been sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to legal circles on September 5, the Suwon District Court sentenced an official identified as A, who was indicted on charges including damaging electronic records, violating the Act on Prevention of Unfair Competition and Protection of Trade Secrets (leakage of trade secrets, etc.), and breach of duty, to six months in prison.

A served as a manager overseeing an Indonesian waste-derived solid fuel production plant construction project at the victim company from March 2022 until February of the following year.

A was put on trial for arbitrarily deleting approximately 1,600 work-related files just before returning the laptop to the company after receiving a notice of dismissal in 2023.

During the trial, A claimed, "Ahead of resignation, I merely organized the folders and files I had been using one by one through Windows Explorer and had no intention of intentionally damaging them."

However, the court ruled, "Under the employment rules, documents created within the scope of duties are all company assets, and when asked to return the laptop, the intent to arbitrarily delete the data without consulting the company is recognized."

In addition, the court found A guilty of the charge of unauthorized leakage of trade secrets for copying and taking approximately 60 files, including design drawings intended for submission to the client, onto a personal external hard drive before deleting the massive amount of files.

However, the court stated the reasons for sentencing, "To give an opportunity for damage recovery and settlement, legal custody was not carried out, taking into account that the defendant is elderly, has no criminal record exceeding a fine, and the scale of damage to the victim company is not excessive."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.