Credit: Shutterstock Waiver of Corporate Privilege by an Individual Defendant
Can the court abrogate the employer's privilege over the objection of the employer, and if so under what circumstances? This article discusses two cases in which the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit addressed this question, holding that the court could not abrogate the employer's privilege.
July 05, 2022 at 10:00 AM
12 minute read
Individual employees often act pursuant to advice from their in-house counsel. If named as a defendant in which her action is challenged, the employee may want to assert advice of corporate counsel as a defense. But the privilege belongs to the employer, not the employee, and the employer may refuse to waive the privilege. Can the court abrogate the employer's privilege over the objection of the employer, and if so under what circumstances?
'Wells Fargo' and 'Ross'
In United States v. Wells Fargo Bank, 132 F. Supp. 3d 558 (S.D.N.Y. 2015), and Ross v. City of Memphis, 423 F.3d 596 (6th Cir. 2005), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, respectively, addressed precisely this question, and held that the court could not abrogate the employer's privilege.
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