The UK High Court has granted an injunction to a top law firm preventing its former Director of Business and Development from giving interviews about an ‘ongoing struggle with women in the workplace’.
In June 2018 the defendant was given six months’ notice that his employment with the firm was being terminated. The defendant left on the terms he would be paid as per the entitlements contained within his contract and a substantial additional sum. The defendant left his role in early January 2019, however a number of weeks later he emailed the firm that he intended to share his impressions of ‘the ongoing struggle the firm has with women in the workplace’. The defendant planned to do so by way of interview scheduled to take place in the first two weeks of February.
The email identified specific instances to highlight this struggle with women in the workplace. All instances referred to were what the claimants described as confidential information relating to employees or partners of the firm and falling within the scope of a confidentiality clause contained within the defendant’s contract of employment.
Granting the interim injunction, Mr Justice Warby noted that the law firm accepted there was a legitimate public interest in the performance by large firms of their social and moral duties towards their staff. He continued, however, that “the existence of such an interest cannot justify indiscriminate disclosure of otherwise sensitive confidential information which others have a legitimate interest in keeping confidential.” Judge Warby ultimately decided that a general desire to talk publicly about the ‘culture’ of a large firm was not enough to justify the disclosure of such details.
The defendant has since undertaken not to disclose information that is subject to the court order as well as to destroy various confidential documents and instruct others to whom he had passed such documents to do the same.
To read judgement in full, please click here .