Stevens v. Interactive Financial Advisors, Inc.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s conversion action, alleging that defendants’ stole plaintiff’s clients’ nonpublic personal information that plaintiff had uploaded to defendant’s cloud-based data system at time plaintiff had worked for defendants selling investment products. At time plaintiff alleged said information had been stolen, plaintiff no longer worked for defendants. As such, he could not show that he had right to immediate possession of said information as required in conversion claim because: (1) plaintiff’s clients were also defendant’s clients; and (2) federal law precluded defendants from giving nonpublic information of its clients to non-affiliated third-parties such as plaintiff. Fact that plaintiff had originally uploaded information into data base was irrelevant. Plaintiff also failed to establish viable conversion claim regarding similar information about clients who only purchased insurance products, where, although instant federal law did not apply to such information about said clients, plaintiff failed to show that he made demand for such information prior to filing instant lawsuit.