New “Ag-Gag” Law in North Carolina Provides a New Tool to Fight Employee Theft
A new North Carolina law provides an additional avenue for employers to seek redress from employees who have taken company information for personal use. N.C.G.S. § 99A-2, which became effective January 1, 2016, provides that “Any person who intentionally gains access to the nonpublic areas of another’s premises and engages in an act that exceeds the person’s authority to enter those areas is liable to the owner or operator of the premises for any damages sustained.” N.C.G.S. § 99A-2(a). The statute lists several examples of acts that exceed a person’s authority, and first among those examples is an employee who takes company information for use beyond the scope of his or her employment: An employee who enters the nonpublic areas of an employer's premises for a reason other than a bona fide intent of seeking or holding employment or doing business with the employer and thereafter without authorization captures or removes the employer's data, paper, records, or any