Documents created by a former general counsel of Zara USA on a company laptop are not protected by attorney-client privilege and must be submitted for an in-camera determination of whether they deserve work product protection, a Manhattan appeals court has ruled.

The Appellate Division, First Department's decision Tuesday in Miller v. Zara USA, 155512/15, modifies a 2016 ruling in which it issued a protective order preventing Zara from accessing more than 100 “personal documents” created by plaintiff Ian Jack Miller on a company laptop after he was terminated.

Miller, who is gay and Jewish, brought a $40 million employment discrimination suit against fashion retailer Zara and two of its executives in June 2015. He was terminated two months prior and refused to return his laptop, and even used it to email a lawyer who helped him sue Zara.