Duncey’s Caps, Inc. hired Bud Dunop as its new human resources manager for 2018.  Bud quickly determined that Duncey’s needed a formal employee policy handbook.  Included within the handbook was an arbitration agreement requiring employees to arbitrate all claims against Duncey’s relating to the employee’s employment.

Bud then held training and review sessions with all Duncey’s employees.  At the end of each session, each Duncey’s employee was required to log into a computer with their own self-created password.  Once logged in, the employee was given the opportunity to fully review the handbook and the arbitration agreement.  The employee was then required to click a box stating that he or she “acknowledges” receiving and reviewing the handbook, and that by clicking the box they “agreed” to abide by the handbook and the arbitration agreement. The employee was then required to enter their initials and click “submit.”

A few weeks later, one of Duncey’s employees who electronically acknowledged the handbook was injured on the job.  The employee filed a lawsuit.  Will Duncey’s be able to get this lawsuit sent to arbitration? Continue Reading Are Your Employees’ Electronically-Signed Agreements Enforceable?

laptop with envelope handshake

Before the pandemic, Ernest Bux’s niece Chit Bux signed a lease with Iona Mall in an upscale strip shopping center and hired a contractor to build out her dream business – a beauty salon “Cuts & Fluffs.” When Dallas County ordered businesses to shutter last spring, Chit’s “essential business” construction on her salon continued toward meeting the originally scheduled July 1st opening date – perhaps the worst time to open a high-touch, close-quarters beauty salon. Having dealt with other unsuccessful startups in that same space, Iona needed Cuts & Fluffs to succeed; Chit needed a different opening date – much later when people were less fearful of crowds. Chit called Iona, her contractor and her banker who was shepherding her SBA loan. Can Chit work something out with Iona without completely modifying her lease? Continue Reading Can an Email Exchange Modify a Lease?

Email marketing and newsletter concept, Hand of man sending message and mobile phone with email iconSometime ago Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux conveyed a pipeline easement to Nodding Donkey Pipelines for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 24-inch pipeline across his Big Bux Ranch. In an email sent before Christmas, Lannie Landman with Nodding Donkey requested an easement for a second pipeline on the North side of the existing line. Landman’s January email stated “Pursuant to our conversation earlier, Nodding Donkey agrees to pay you $70.00 per foot for the second 24 inch line it proposes to build.” Big Daddy responded “We accept.” Subsequent Nodding Donkey exhibits attached to an email depicted the new easement both on the North and South sides of the existing pipeline and offered $15 to $25 per foot. Yet another email from Big Daddy attached a proposed amendment to the R.O.W. agreement between the parties.  Does Big Daddy have an enforceable agreement at $70 per foot? Can an email exchange create an enforceable contract? What about the Statute of Frauds?

Legally

Yes, since passage of the 2001 Uniform Electronic Transactions Act electronic records and signatures may create an enforceable contract for the sale of real estate – if the email(s) satisfies the Statute of Frauds. To satisfy the Statute of Frauds, there must be a “written memorandum which is complete within itself in every material detail.” In a more complicated recitation of these very facts, the Texas Supreme Court recently found that there was no enforceable contract. The conflicting email exchanges, including the introduction of a new investor in Nodding Donkey who offered substantially less, made it clear that oral testimony would be required to sort out the details – the very thing that the Statute of Frauds is intended to stop. The Texas Supreme Court held that the material contract terms offered by Big Daddy were incomplete and did not satisfy the Statute of Frauds.

Practically

As first blogged by my partner Jamie Ribman in 2009, great care must be exercised when using email. If you are negotiating a deal, be aware that unless you have disclaimers in your text saying that email communications are not binding upon the parties, and that the deal is subject to the preparation of a written and signed contract, the email exchange may become an enforceable contract. If you are determined only to have “ink” signatures, make sure that typewritten names within your e-mail state that they are for contact purposes only and are not the “signature” of the sender.

Tilting the Scales in Your Favor

A worthy substitute, perhaps, is an on-line electronic signature solution. The Texas Realtors, for example, make Digital Ink available for free and DocuSign at a discount. Products such as these make electronic documents and signatures legally binding for nearly every business or personal transaction around the world – exceeding the requirements of the ESIGN Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

Last month we talked about how establishing goals for litigation “wins” requires taking emotion out of litigation, and clear communication between lawyer and client.  We also talked about the need to re-evaluate litigation goals as the facts and issues develop.  This month we’re going to discuss the hidden costs of litigation, and the benefits of early resolution. Continue Reading Defining a Win in Litigation: Addressing the Hidden Costs

Days ago, engineer Anthony Levandowski was indicted on criminal charges accusing him of stealing information from Google-owned Waymo and taking it to Uber. While the indictment alleges he downloaded 14,000 documents containing trade secrets before he left Google, Levandowski insists the downloads were his. An arbitration panel ordered Levandowski to pay Google $127 million. After firing Levandowski – who repeatedly asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination before the trial – his new employer, Uber, paid $245 million to settle its own civil lawsuit with Google.  The sitting federal judge recommended a criminal probe into a possible theft – now an indictment. Everybody does it, right? Who pays the $372 million? Does Uber have to protect Levandowski? Can Levandowski claim ownership of his ideas? Can Levandowski go to jail? Continue Reading Who Pays When Your New Employee Brings Your Competitor’s Trade Secrets?

Mark Eting is one of Duncey’s Caps top outside sales agents. Because the company is based in Texas, but Mark lives in Cleveland and sells for the company in the northeast, Mark purchased a personal computer and a laptop to use for work purposes, but did not get reimbursed by the company. He did, however, provide the computer to Duncey’s IT department to install the company’s sales tracking program. Unbeknownst to Mark, the IT department also installed software that allowed the company to determine when Mark accessed the sales tracking program and what information he accessed. Duncey’s employee handbook – which Mark acknowledged – stated the company could monitor his use and access of company data on personal devices. For the laptop, Mark purchased software called “LogMeIn” which allowed him to remotely access the home personal computer while he was on the road. Thus, Mark could use his laptop while traveling, access the home computer, and enter the sales data. At a team sales retreat, Mark casually mentioned to his boss, Tom Prior, how he logged his sales data on the road by using LogMeIn.    

When Mark quit, Duncey’s IT department investigated his use of the sales program, and found he had been logged in more than usual. Suspicious of this activity, Tom went into LogMeIn and successfully guessed his username and password. While perusing Mark’s personal computer, Tom found Mark had set up a Google Mail account and was emailing Duncey’s customer information to one of its competitors. Duncey filed suit against Mark for various claims. When Mark read the lawsuit’s allegations, he realized the only way Duncey’s learned that information would have been by accessing his personal computer or laptop. Mark fired off a counterclaim for computer hacking. Does Mark’s claim stand a chance?  

Continue Reading An Employer’s Spooky Interpretation of its Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy

In the summer of 2016 Stormy Sultry aka Peggy Peterson and Dennis Duck aka David Dennison engaged in some alleged hanky-panky. Wanting to nip in the bud any later stories about what happened, Duck’s agent gets Sultry to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for which Duck happily pays Sultry $130,000 for her silence and her agreement that any dispute over the NDA could only be pursued in a private arbitration. Agreeing that damages for any breach are not readily determinable in dollars, the NDA has a liquidated damages provision that damages are $1 million per breach. Is the NDA enforceable? Continue Reading How to Avoid Trumping Non-Disclosure Agreements

After not meeting his 2017 sales goals, Ollie B. Celling knows he might get fired from Duncey’s Caps, Inc. if he doesn’t get his numbers up in 2018.  Celling begins marketing Duncey’s through his personal Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.  Soon he thinks he’s hit a home run: a customer from Japan wants to buy 5,000 ballcaps for whatever Major League Baseball team Yu Darvish signs with for the 2018 season.  There’s one catch – the customer wants to pay with a new cryptocurrency.  Duncey’s contracts require payment in U.S. dollars.  Celling goes to Jim Duncey, the owner of Duncey’s, and tells him that Duncey’s should change their contracts to start accepting cryptocurrency because “it’s the wave of the future.”  Should Duncey agree? Continue Reading Should You Accept Customer Payments in Bitcoin?

Co-author: Skyler Stuckey

After finishing his weekly rehearsal for an upcoming Robin Hood performance at his local theatre, Wiley Enferee walked into his local Mega-Mart at his wife’s behest to buy a gallon of milk.  Not thinking, Wiley walked into the store still carrying his sword on his hip.  Wiley quickly found the milk and paid in the self-checkout line, but not before concerned shoppers notified store employees, who quickly called the police.  One store employee, Sam Aritan followed Wiley into the parking lot.  Wiley left before the police arrived, but Sam jotted down his license plate and told officers which way Wiley went.  Officers quickly found Wiley in his car, and noticed he was swerving and looking down.  The officers pulled Wiley over and placed him under arrest.  Wiley explained that the sword was just a prop and he’d forgotten to take it off.  The officers let him go but wrote him a ticket for texting while driving.  Wiley is upset that he ended up with a ticket when he was just minding his business.  Should Wiley put up a legal fight?

Continue Reading Put Down Your Phone But Keep Your Sword in Your Hand

cyber securityBreathing a sigh of relief that he neither works for U.S. agencies requiring security clearances nor do his hiring policies require the details of mental illnesses, drug and alcohol use, past arrests, bankruptcies, Joe Hyre was oblivious to the ranting of Dez Grunteld, a whining employee who he fired last week. Over the weekend Dez hacked into the Ten U Us Employment records and downloaded personnel files containing social security numbers, dates of birth and credit histories of Ten U Us Employment’s people. Not satisfied, Dez deliberately crashed five of the company’s eight network servers as further retribution, permanently erasing all of the information, and forcing Ten U Us to shut down operations in its headquarters for two days sustaining losses in excess of $100,000. Can Joe Hyre instruct his Ten U Us employees to access Dez Grunteld’s old email account to investigate the damage Dez caused? Is Ten U Us responsible to the employees whose information was stolen?

Hack Grunteld Back?

Maybe Hyre can access Dez’s old email account to investigate the damage he caused. Among other things, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) regulates private individuals and businesses, arguably giving employees of private entities a right to privacy in their e-mail. While there are equally good arguments that employers who own the computer system used by their employees have the right to monitor employees’ e-mail, the simplest solution is for Ten U Us to follow the terms to which Dez Grunteld agreed in his employee handbook.

Responsible for Employee Files?

Yes, Ten U Us is almost certainly responsible to its employees for the loss of their sensitive personal information. The Texas Business & Commerce Code obligates businesses to implement reasonable procedures, including taking any appropriate corrective action, to protect the unlawful use or disclosure of any sensitive personal information collected or maintained by a company in the regular course of business, both for customers and employees. Moreover, Texas law imposes notification requirements for the breach and disclosure of sensitive personal information, even if only potentially exposed, for employees and customers alike.

Inside Jobs

Although the cyberbreach of more than 14 million U.S. government personnel records detailing, among other things, military records, job and pay histories and life insurance and pension information was the clever work of Chinese hackers, most business cyber breaches are inside jobs. Speaking of China, did you know that, over the centuries of repelling Mongolian invaders, the only time that the Great Wall of China was breached was in 1644? The gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. Whether in 1644 or 2015, the most likely breaches of your secure walls – whether they be fortifications or computers – is a dissatisfied employee like Wu Sangui or Dez Grunteld.

Tilting the Scales in Your Favor

Ideally? Immediately address resentful or disgruntled employees in a fair and benevolent way. For double coverage, however, plan for a possible separation or firing by implementing the following recommendations:

  1. Cyber Insurance. The detailed insurance company evaluation of your company’s IT department should become the blueprint for internal company protection of sensitive information. Premium costs, depending upon coverage and current IT protection systems can vary dramatically.
  2. IT Policy. Create and enforce an acceptable use policy for your Internet, Email and Computer systems.
  3. Content Filtering. With a content filtering device, monitor internet usage to restrict websites accessible to employees. Consider restricting access to personal emails – a common vehicle for “stealing” company files.
  4. Social Networking Sites. Deny, or at least limit, free access to social networking sites like, Facebook, Twitter and the like, as they invite inappropriate content, viruses, and theft.
  5. Password Integrity. Require separate and regular changed passwords for each employee who accesses a company computer and server. The password should not be known by anyone else.
  6. Regular Audits. Audit computer files for user access and deletion.
  7. Monitor server event logs.
  8. Use Terminal Servers if possible.
  9. Back up at least once a month. Test your backup because restoration data is frequently corrupted, or worse was never backed up at all.

Past Related Articles: Cyber Security: Forewarned is Fair-Warned

Don’t Be a Target: Mitigating Liability From Cyber Attacks

Weighing in – 1.2 Billion Usernames and Passwords. What, Me Worry About CyberSecurity?

Sony vs. N. Korea – Let Capitalism Fight Totalitarianism!