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An employer has failed to prove its former employee breached his contract when he sent himself a list of the organisation's customers.

In August 2020, energy equipment wholesaler One Stop received an email from Prosun Solar, a competitor. The email contained a "stock message" about Prosun's operating plans during COVID, and the recipient list included some 949 email addresses.

In late November 2021, an employee of One Stop forwarded himself the email to his private address. He then resigned two months later, to take up a CEO position with a startup company.

One Stop claimed the email amounted to "confidential information" because the recipient list constituted the "vast majority" of its customers. In forwarding it, it argued the employee had breached his employment contract...