Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Minnesota

Re: payroll personal information

Dear Employer,

This is obviously a dangerous and complex issue that would require substantial research. However, I believe that all persons whose personal information might have been compromised must be notified by mail. My understanding is that companies have been sued by those whose personal information has been compromised and such a notice can at least slow the bleeding and minimize damages by warning your employees (and others?) that they should be vigilant about checking to make sure their identities are not being stolen.

I also believe, based only on the short paragraph of facts that you provided, that a suit should be brought against the former human resources employee, particularly if the former h.r. employee is not 100% cooperative with your investigation. Additional research would have to be conducted as to the causes of action but I believe the first step would be to get an ex parte order for the sheriff to go to the h.r. employee's home and take their computer(s). The problem is that this information has been transferred to a hotmail address and another email address and could have been further transferred from there. In my opinion, the former h.r. employee should be threatened with a lawsuit if he or she is not entirely cooperative in your investigation as to where the information has gone. Furthermore, the h.r. employee could be threatened with criminal sanctions as I believe county attorneys are now prosecuting identity theft crimes more vigorously.

Sincerely,

Kent B. Gravelle

Cundy & Martin, LLC

7900 Xerxes Ave. S., Suite 1125

Bloomington, MN 55431

email: [email protected]