As illustrated by a recent decision by a federal court in Massachusetts, it is not uncommon for an employee to take company documents that the employee believes will support a claim under the False Claims Act 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq. To the consternation of employers, courts have allowed such activity. But as the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts found in Unum Group v. Loftus last December (No. 4:16 CV 40154 TSH, 2016 WL 7115967, at *4), this right to “self-help” is not unlimited. Where courts draw the line, however, is not uniform, as is set forth below.

Originally published in Law360, New York - June 27, 2017.