The U.S. Supreme Court, during the 2020-2021 term, and the New York Court of Appeals, so far in 2021, issued several decisions with important implications for employers. This month's column reviews decisions pertaining to unlawful computer access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA), union access grants amounting to takings and how far vicarious liability for employers extends in New York for claims of discrimination and sexual harassment.

Computer Access

In Van Buren v. United States, 141 S.Ct. 1648 (2021), the Supreme Court held that under the CFAA it is unlawful for an individual to obtain information from particular areas in a computer (e.g., files, folders, or databases) which the individual is not authorized to access, but it is not unlawful to simply access information for an improper purpose which the individual is otherwise authorized to access.