Mike Cannon-Brookes wins court order to probe Kevin Chiu’s device over emails to Annie Cannon-Brookes

Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes is probing the private computer records of an ousted lieutenant who tried to send sensitive information to the billionaire’s estranged wife Annie.

Sidelined Cannon-Brookes Services Pty Ltd financial controller Kevin Chiu has failed in his bid to stop lawyers and a computer expert hired by Mr Cannon-Brookes going through his personal storage devices and email accounts.

The NSW Supreme Court action against Mr Chiu comes as the Cannon-Brookes are wrestling over the carve-up of a $24 billion fortune derived from his success with software company Atlassian.

The injunction and damages action was sparked by the discovery of a series of festive season email communications between Mr Chiu, Ms Cannon-Brookes and the former Cannon-Brookes family office financial controller Catherine Manuel.

Cannon-Brookes Services has claimed in the NSW Supreme Court that Ms Manuel was sacked on November 27 for serious misconduct. Ms Manuel went to work with Ms Cannon-Brookes’ new business Smart Collective.

Mr Chiu allegedly tried to send downloaded computer records titled HR Backup from his Google folder to Ms Manuel, and then to both his former colleague and to Ms Cannon-Brookes.

The folder allegedly contained 966 files that included employment contracts, remuneration and bonus correspondence, employee tax and superannuation details, medical certificates, visa and police check details, and committee minutes and meeting papers.

Cannon-Brookes Services chief financial officer Faris Cosic told the NSW Supreme Court that Mr Chiu was confronted on February 4 and acknowledged trying to share the downloaded information with Ms Manuel and Ms Cannon-Brookes.

Mr Chiu was given a show cause notice as to why he should not be sacked and was ordered to hand over his personal laptop as well as all personal storage devices used for his work..

Mr Chiu handed over the laptop and offered to delete all company information for his personal devices, but declined to provide usernames and passwords for Cannon-Brookes Services to gain access to his records.

Lawyers for Mr Chiu told his employer on February 6 that he was employed to perform work for the Cannon-Brookes family office and was required to take instructions from both Ms Cannon-Brookes and Mr Cannon-Brookes.

Mr Chiu had explained that the emails were in the ordinary course of his work.

But in giving Cannon-Brookes Services investigators access to Mr Chiu’s storage devices and accounts, Justice Kate Williams said Mr Chiu had not provided any evidence of instructions from Ms Cannon-Brookes to share the information with Ms Manuel.

The fact that Mr Chiu copied Ms Cannon-Brookes’ Gmail address into an email he sent at 8.45pm on Christmas Day does not support an argument that sharing the HR Backup Folder was in the ordinary course of his work, the judge said.

“It is inherently improbable that those duties extended to sharing confidential information of the kind that Mr Cosic’s evidence indicates . . . with a person whose employment had recently been terminated by CBS for alleged serious misconduct,” she said in her judgment.

She said there was a serious question to be tried in Cannon-Brookes Services legal action.

The company is asking for a permanent injunction preventing Mr Chiu sharing confidential information plus damages.