The Event
There’s a version of “well handled” that HR teams get very good at. Exit interview done, badge collected, laptop back on the shelf. IT wipes it, reimages it, and it’s ready for the next hire by Friday. Efficient. Clean. Standard.
That’s the exact workflow that quietly destroys a case.
Not every departure needs anything different. But when someone leaves under circumstances that already feel tense (a for-cause termination, a resignation ahead of a hard conversation, an exit into a competitor, anything involving a role with access to client data, source code, or trade secrets) the standard reflex is the wrong one, and it usually runs before anyone thinks to stop it.
What It Costs
If this departure ever becomes a dispute (a non-compete fight, a data theft claim, a wrongful termination suit, a client’s data showing up somewhere it shouldn’t), the device is the evidence. Once it’s wiped, it isn’t recoverable in any way a court will find convincing. That cuts both directions. It can cost the company its ability to prove what happened. It can just as easily hand the departing employee’s attorney the argument that the company destroyed evidence it had a duty to keep.
Neither side wants to find out which one they are after the fact.
What to Do This Week
The single action that matters most: hold the device before IT’s normal offboarding workflow touches it. That means:
- Isolate the laptop. Don’t wipe it, don’t reimage it, don’t hand it to the next hire.
- Preserve the accounts, not just the hardware. Email, cloud storage, and access logs often matter more than what’s on the physical drive.
- Note who had the device and when, in writing, from the moment of departure forward.
- Loop in counsel before deciding what “preserve” actually requires for this specific situation. That call determines how long to hold it and what else needs to be captured.
When to Call Someone
The threshold is simple: if there’s any reasonable chance this departure turns into a dispute, make the call before IT’s standard process runs, not after. Waiting to see if it becomes a problem is how the device gets wiped.
Line for the Email
Call me before IT touches the device.
References
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 37(e) — governs sanctions for failure to preserve electronically stored information. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_37