This just happened me today, which is pretty hilarious.
I received an email from my previous employers HR department (rebranded People & Culture) claiming that I have equipment I have to return. They didn't say what equipment I had missed to return but cited the employee contract that I'm contractually obligated to return any equipment or be in violation of contract.
I thought it was pretty hilarious, so i took a print-screen. Anonymized it slightly and posted it to LinkedIn. Replied to the email with a link to my LinkedIn post saying “Free PR” and that I might have some USB cable at home that I can return to her personally.
Forward a bit, I get a message from the VP of People & Culture (HR) saying that I'm in violation of contract for leaking internal and sensitive information that could hurt the company, which isn't good since their stock price tanked 85% in the recent months (sinking ship). He wanted a “swift resolution” so I said, you can either apologize for accusing me of theft, pay me to remove the post or take me to court. He also stated that the first email stated what equipment was missing, but they didnt.
I live in Sweden, so a big company trying to strong-arm me with bullshit mumbo jumbo won't work, we have some of the strongest employee protections here, and other than not leaking sensitive information acquired during my time there I have no obligations to them once they're no longer paying me.
In the next email he says “”You have not returned a Samsung phone that belongs to the company and it´s your obligation to return it.”
I should note that during the exchange i said it'd be nice if they stop accusing me of theft/breaking contract before asking if I'd just forgotten or whatever.
In my next reply i rephrased his arrogant piece of shit message into “Our internal systems indicate that you have not returned a Samsung phone, perhaps it was forgotten. We'd like you to return it” and continued to reply that I had returned both the phone and my work laptop (that they didn't even know I had because it wasn't taken out of regular ITs budget), who I left the devices to and around when.
I asked if it's my obligation to find the phone they've lost, as well as stating that they have the IMEI number and can brick the device by reporting it stolen, rendering it useless to me if I had it (It's a Samsung S22, they can be remote bricked AFAIK).
I then asked “So what will we do about this LinkedIn post, will you apologize, pay me or take me to court”?
I continued to send a copy of the correspondence to the newly appointed CEO of the company, congratulating him on his position and whatever.
I figured it'd be nice for people here to read the story where the draconian 5B SEK/y (500M USD) megacorp can go suck their toes because they're not above the law and I know my rights.
Ofc all equipment was returned, I'm not in a position where petty theft is required for my well-being, nor does my moral compass think that stealing is right (unless you have to).
It might've been a bit childish to post straight to LinkedIn, but being called a thief and being threatened with contract violations in the first email by a megacorp (Swedish streaming company) regarding a fucking PHONE doesn't vibe with me. I could've somewhat easily stolen shit worth way more than a phone 🙂
Have a nice day!