Q: Can former employer sue for removing documents from personal account?

A: Yes, your former employer could potentially sue you for removing documents from your personal Google Drive account, even though you created them and stored them with employer consent. The key issue here revolves around ownership of intellectual property created during employment. Generally, works created within the scope of employment belong to the employer regardless of where they were stored or whether they were explicitly labeled as proprietary.

The absence of specific storage policies in your offer letter and NDA does complicate matters. However, courts often look beyond written agreements to the nature of the employment relationship and implicit understandings between parties. The context of your work, the nature of the documents, and your employer's reasonable expectations regarding access to work product could all factor into a legal determination. Text message threats indicate they believe they have a legitimate claim.

Your best course of action would be to preserve any evidence of consent regarding your personal storage arrangements. Consider whether returning copies of the documents might resolve the dispute without litigation. Document your actions and communications thoroughly in case this escalates to formal proceedings. While employers face challenges in such cases, particularly without clear policies, they may still pursue claims under theories of conversion, misappropriation, or breach of duty if they believe valuable information has been lost. The outcome would likely depend on specific facts about your role, the documents' nature, and California's particular employment and intellectual property laws.