Husband lost his job. His fault but he had good intentions. We are both deeply upset. Please help.

[user1471433754]

My husband's boss phoned him a fortnight ago, and told him to stand down and to hand his laptop in to HQ the following day. My husband was so shocked, we didn't know what was happening. We were in a distressed state as he's contract and won't get paid either.
After over a week, of not sleeping, eating, desperately worried, we received a very aggressive lawyers letter from the company. It accused him of downloading documents to his private e mail to read. Husband did do this, they weren't sensitive but he did do it so he could read them at night, and deleted them right after. He honestly didn't realise he was doing wrong. He was doing his best to help his team and get the work done. He's always known for getting jobs done and been told he's a great asset.
Back story to this is, I've been very ill the last year. I nearly died, also lots of illness on my part, mental breakdown, 2 operations, serious illness. He was trying to look after me and do his job at the same time in the evening. He's now been dismissed. Looks like we are going to have to pay both sides legal fees, but he has no job, I can't work. We speak to a lawyer tmro.
He has been foolish, but he did it with the best of intentions to get the work done. We are early sixties and so distressed, I'm worried he will have a heart attack. He's cried non stop, he is horrified, ashamed, embarrassed. Please be kind x

I don't understand why he needed to download to a personal email if he had a works laptop

Are they accusing him of company espionage?

If that is the whole story, then there should be no legal fees. The company has taken the decision to end your dh's contract, as is their right, and he has handed back his laptop. That's the end of it. The terms of his contract will say if they owe him any severance pay.

Don't make a bigger thing of this than it is. People get fired all the time. It happens. He has no reason to be eembarrassed. Perhaps the information he emailed was very sensitive and secret, perhaps theyjust want rid of an older employer, perhaps for another reason. Either way, he takes a couple of days off, gets some rest and fresh air and then looks for another role. He has 40 years of good reputation. One unhappy employer shouldn't damage him too much. He has previous employers he can ask for a reference.

To advise you, people need to know what the legal fees are for.

What legal proceedings are ongoing? Is your DH pursuing unfair dismissal, or are they prosecuting him for a breach of confidentiality - what is going on?

OP without being outing what does the letter say, other than terminating his contract? If you’re bringing asked to respond then are they taking legal action?
I think you need to ask him why he sent things to himself - he had no need to if he had a work laptop, so to his employers this is gross misconduct and will look highly suspicious, and you need to consult a lawyer.

There would only be fees if this went to court, and your husband lost, and the judge made a costs order against him (general rule is that the loser pays the winner's costs, but the judge has a very wide discretion about this).
In the circumstances this is a very very unlikely outcome.

Are you in the UK, Op? If so contact ACAS. It's a free service.

I think he did it so he didn't feel it was in his work laptop all the time? So that he could sit up and read them from bed at night? It was downloaded to his own laptop and then deleted immediately. Yes, I know he's been very foolish and naive. That's the way he thinks though. In his mind he wasn't doing anything wrong because it was with the best of intentions.

What legal fees? Are they taking legal action against him? He has been very foolish, you can never send company documents to your personal email and most companies make this very clear in their onboarding training and policies. But its done now.

He needs to establish what action they are taking beyond terminating his contract and get some advice based on that. ACAS can usually help and you might have legal insurance on your household policy. As a contractor has he taken out indemnity insurance?

He can look for another job.

Yes UK thank you

But what did the lawyer’s letter actually say? Why are there legal proceedings? Are his former employers suing him for breach of confidentiality or something?

This literally makes no sense though.

We are not pursuing unfair dismissal because he did do it. The lawyers letter said it will be wanting legal fees paid but this is the first letter he has received.

I mean this bit will sort but you both need to take the emotion out of it. If it was a mistake so what. Everyone makes them. Employers can be twats and this is more true the older you are so maybe they are just looking for a reason. Take it as a chance to reassess and it sounds like you both need that.

What are your finances like? What are your assets? Can you access pensions now and can you apply for ill health retirement? Can you downsize? Can you find an easier route? What do you both want? It’s not a situation that needs any shame and it could be something that brings new beginnings that end up better for both of you.

Why are there legal fees to be paid?

What does the letter say?
What does it say they intend to do?

Honestly it makes no sense that he emailed them to his own laptop

What fees? For what? Are they wanting to sue him? Without knowing what the fees are for no-one can help you.

Yes, but what fees? The letter must say what the fees are for, what proceeding is happening.

I know it makes no sense. I think he thought it was a psychological thing? So that he wasnt sitting up in bed reading from a works laptop but from his own? So that it didn't feel like he was taking work to bed with him? He works long hours.

For a civil case in the UK there needs to be a legal wrongdoing AND loss. What’s their loss? He breached his contract and was dismissed.

You need to calm down. Easy to say, hard to do, I know. But you do.

Wait to see what your solicitor says tomorrow. And it’s a bit more nuanced than the relative is telling you so I wouldn’t pay that too much heed. Letters before action are always paid by the client, not the other side in my experience. If they’re actually issuing proceedings that’s different but, again, I don’t see the loss. Maybe they’ve contacted one of these dodgy legal factories that just churn out threats in the hope they’ll scare someone into paying? Google the lawyer who has sent you the letter.

Why has he legal fees to pay?

his sending to his own email makes no sense. Why didn’t he just read them in the evenings on the work laptop? There’s no way he didn’t know that wasn’t allowed.

Agree.

What fees are the Company lawyers stating you have to pay @user1471433754 ?

What exactly does the letter you have received from them say/accuse your husband of?

This is right. It sounds like they're threatening a claim for breach of confidentiality. From their perspective, you can understand why they'd be worried about what your husband would do with their confidential information, OP.

The way this usually goes is they write a very threatening letter, ask you to explain yourself and probably sign some undertakings promising various things (like returning/deleting the information and not making use of it) and if they're satisfied, it won't go any further. If they aren't, they'll apply to court for an injunction and if your husband loses, there is a possibility he will have to pay adverse costs.

I know it's scary, but there's a long way between here and there.

Still isnt clear why legal fees need to be paid. I work for a company that went through a very serious cyber attack last year. If anybody now got caught doing something like that then the company would nail them to the wall. Its a very serious issue regardless if good intentions or not. That's why businesses use secure company laptops. Yes your husband cocked up but he needs to own it move on and find another job.

Can we leave aside the rights and wrongs of what your husband did for the moment, and establish what the legal fees are for?

We can get onto what kind of case he has once we know what costs he is being expected to pay.