Legal Forum: When Does Property Become ‘Finder’s Keepers’?
I recently left an HVACR company I had worked at for several years. I want to start my own HVACR business in the same community. My former employer bought the parts inventory and customer list of a local contractor who went out of business. During a public auction of the former company’s used equipment and office furniture, I purchased several file cabinets. Inside one cabinet is what appears to be a great deal of files with customer information in them.
Are these files confidential and property of my former boss, or am I entitled to use them to establish contact with these customers? Would I be breaking any laws? After all, the information was inside the office equipment that I legally purchased.