After losing his job as the general counsel of Zara, Ian Jack Miller held onto his company laptop. He even used the laptop to email a lawyer that helped him sue the fast-fashion retailer, alleging it discriminated against him because he’s gay and Jewish. In what may strike some as a surprising ruling, a judge has blocked Zara from seeing files he stored on the device, ruling that they aren’t relevant to the merits of the case.
In an Aug. 8 decision, New York Supreme Court Acting Justice David Cohen in Manhattan granted a protective order that prohibits Zara’s lawyers from seeing more than 100 files Miller created on the company laptop after his termination. “The court sees no reason why these documents, created after plaintiff was terminated, may relate to the reasons plaintiff was terminated,” Cohen wrote in his decision. “It appears defendant is merely trying to gain a litigation advantage by accessing documents that may be privileged.”
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