Capital Mutual Insurance Brokers says it feels vindicated after the Fair Work Commission denied a former employee’s application for unfair dismissal.

The Steadfast brokerage terminated account executive Shayne (Shay) Finemore’s employment in May on “reasonable grounds”, according to the tribunal.

“We felt justified in our decision,” Capital Mutual director Seamus Hounihan told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“For her to believe she had an entitlement over our clients and send company information to a private Gmail account the day prior to her resigning, and [to] then discover she had three USBs with client documents and privileged information prior to and during the Fair Work hearing, was shattering.”

The tribunal was told Ms Finemore tendered her resignation in April, and her last scheduled day with the brokerage was May 27. However, she was sacked on May 3 after the business alleged she had emailed documents containing client information that was stored on the company server to her personal Gmail account.

Capital Mutual says it discovered that a USB stick she had left with another broker contained significant company information and materials downloaded from the server the day before she resigned.

Mr Hounihan says the industry should be more vigilant around client databases.

“Employees, after a while, build a rapport with clients and I have personally seen individuals start up as an [authorised representative] and immediately attack previous employees’ business,” he said.

“This will always occur, unfortunately, but when an employee takes information with premium, expiry date and contact details, there needs to be some protection.”