Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Chef's recipes....personal property?

I am a Pastry Chef at a restaurant and I brought in all my own recipes and dessert menus. When I was fired this week I wanted to take my Baker's Book (which I wrote) with all my own recipes, menus and baking guides with me and they said that it is company property. When they found out that the company computer did not have a copy of this book on it they accused me of destroying company property and are looking to persue a lawsuit against me. I left my personal copy of the Book with my employer and I have taken none of my recipes, menus, guides, etc. But they are also accusing me of sabotaging the company. Everything they asked for I gave them and I took nothing away whith me. How do I fight this?


Asked on 5/28/08, 12:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bob McCormack Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLC

Re: Chef's recipes....personal property?

There are forensic computer experts who can ascertain whether files have been deleted from company computers. There are many different ways to find out what actually took place and what was contained on the files. If you are indeed innocent, you should have nothing to worry about from a purist standpoint. Unfortunately, these experts are very expensive. You would probably not be able to afford hiring one. The good news is that the company has to prove its case against you. It is not your burden.

The bigger question is whether thay have any right to your recipes. This would probably depend on any agreement you had with them. Many companies consider intellectual property developed by their employees to be the property of the employer. It sounds like you had already developed the recipes before becoming employed there. If so, you may have a claim against the company.

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Answered on 5/28/08, 1:44 pm


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