I had an employee provide a resignation before I was on site. The employee then unplugged a desktop computer and left the premises with it. The computer contained pricing data, customer data, email communications, login credentials to several important websites, login info to vendor websites.
I filed a police report and the police were able to recover the computer, however the data on the machine was wiped or the drive was replaced.
What should I do?
Personally I would very seriously suing them. It wouldn’t make sense from a financial perspective. It’s more about making a very clear statement to staff about what happens when you commit criminal behavior. But I deal with a lot of sensitive proprietary info and someone stealing a laptop or hard drive is a big deal. Know that, even if it settles out early it’s going to cost you $75k-150k in attorneys fees. If you go through discovery you’re looking at $400-500k. If you win, you can likely go after him for punitives and your fees. But, if he doesn’t have any assets he can easily fight you, run up a huge bill, get a judgment, and just declare bankruptcy.
You should have a general business attorney. Get their advice
How in God’s fking name are you coming up with a half a million dollars to sue someone.