The Chaoyang District Court in Beijing has concluded a labor dispute case. An employee of an insurance company, Ms. Wu, used a third-party AI platform previously recommended by her supervisor to assist with office work. She uploaded a self-compiled data table of audit issues to generate a PowerPoint presentation and was subsequently fired by the company on the grounds of serious violation of information security regulations. Ms. Wu filed a lawsuit with the court. The court held that Ms. Wu had no subjective intent to leak trade secrets; the company had not explicitly prohibited the use of third-party AI tools, nor had it provided specific training or guidance on the matter; and it failed to prove that the uploaded content constituted confidential information or that actual losses had occurred. This was insufficient to establish a serious disciplinary violation. The court ruled that the company should continue to perform the labor contract and pay related losses totaling over 46,000 yuan. The second-instance trial upheld the original judgment. This case serves as a reminder that enterprises should clarify AI usage rules in office settings and should not arbitrarily discipline employees based solely on vague information security requirements.
