Littler Mendelson is facing off against a former associate who the firm accuses of siphoning thousands of documents containing confidential firm and client information.
Littler says Uliana Kozeychuk violated firm policy by uploading the sensitive documents while on leave earlier this year. Kozeychuk has launched a blistering social media response, accusing her former firm of targeting her for complaining about “abuse” by Littler shareholders.
“They know that I didn’t take any documents and they did it as a smear campaign to silence me and make sure that nobody believes me when I finally get around to speaking about them,” Kozeychuk said in an interview.
A Texas judge last week granted a protective order shielding confidential information and documents in the case.
The suit marks the latest row between a major law firm and a former employee over allegations of mishandling sensitive information. Manhattan’s Proskauer Rose is suing a former executive for allegedly pilfering electronic files relating to firm financials, strategy, practice information and billing rates before announcing his resignation days earlier.
Littler Mendelson, a San Francisco-founded labor and employment firm, sued Kozeychuk late last month in state court in Dallas.
The firm alleges that Kozeychuk uploaded more than 7,900 documents in early February—while she was on FMLA leave—to an external DropBox. The documents included confidential information, client data and proprietary firm information, according to Littler.
“Ms. Kozeychuk has also chosen to publicly discuss grievances against the firm, including allegations that were investigated during her time at Littler and found to have no factual support,” the firm said in a statement to Bloomberg Law.
“Her actions are unfortunate, but we continue to focus on her improper conduct and are taking all necessary steps to assure both client and firm documents are protected,” the firm said.
Kozeychuk is a California-based labor and employment lawyer who started working for Littler in late 2018. Her clients have included UPS, United Healthcare Services, and Consolidated Container.
George Wood, the firm’s general counsel, confronted Kozeychuk about the mass uploads in February, Littler said. Kozeychuk allegedly responded that the documents were “exclusively personal in nature.”
Kozeychuk resigned from the firm two days after being placed on unpaid administrative leave.
Littler alleges that Kozeychuk has refused to return the confidential information, forcing the firm to seek “immediate and urgent court intervention.”
Kozeychuk denies taking any confidential information from the firm. She says Littler pursued the “false” allegations after talks broke down with the firm to settle her claims of gender discrimination and retaliation, among others.
Littler is being represented by Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegman.
The case is Littler Mendelson PC v. Uliana Kozeychuk, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. 23-02509, 3/17/23
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story: