Interesting.
…An important recent decision applies the law in a novel context: the case of an employee who, upon his departure from the company, destroyed company data.
The employer in the case was engaged in the real estate business. The employee’s job was to identify properties the employer might want to acquire, and he stored the relevant data on the company-owned laptop that he used. The employee quit to go into business for himself. Before returning the laptop to the employer, he deleted the data with the use of a secure-erasure program designed to prevent its recovery.
More here.
Alex Eckelberry