Evidence - Can It be Legally Done?

Hello,
I was asked a question by a friend and I'd like to get an answer for him. In Pennsylvania, is it legal to go to your place of employment and photocopy their material to use in court against them. That is, could I go to Store X, and if I worked there, without their knowing, copy materials and then use it against them in court if I know that they were doing something wrong and wanted to have some proof?

midnightstorms said:

Hello,
I was asked a question by a friend and I'd like to get an answer for him. In Pennsylvania, is it legal to go to your place of employment and photocopy their material to use in court against them. That is, could I go to Store X, and if I worked there, without their knowing, copy materials and then use it against them in court if I know that they were doing something wrong and wanted to have some proof?

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My response:

That is a very good question. My compliments.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you about PA law in those regards; however, in California, there is specific case law on that very subject.

In short, California courts will NEVER allow any materials into evidence, such as you describe, no matter how damning, because California considers such materials to be stolen property. As such, California courts never allow a thief to gain an advantage when using stolen property in court.

An attorney may not retain confidential records taken from an opposing party's files by its employees and delivered to the attorney for use in potential litigation against the employer. The fact that such records are not privileged and may be subject to discovery during litigation does not justify "self help evidence gathering" by the client. [Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro v. Schectman (1997) 55 Cal.App.4th 1279, 1288, 64 Cal.Rptr.2d 698, 705]

IAAL