Slog - Comments on Underwood Update http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update Colby Underwood, the fundraising consultant who sued a former employee, McKenna Hartman, to prohibit her from competing with him after she left his firm, will move forward with his case, currently scheduled for trial in July 2009. On Friday, a judge lifted a temporary restraining order against Hartman that prevented her from going into the fundraising business for herself, allowing her to take steps to start her own firm. One revelation in the case that emerged on Friday was the fact that Hartman had copied the hard drive of her work computer, which she also used for personal purposes, before... Copyright 2008 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:58:16 -0800 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:23:37 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf Is this the most boring news story of the decade? I've tried to get excited about the goings-on in the world of third-tier political consultants, Lord knows I've tried, but I just cannot.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941759 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941759 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:02:02 -0800 Comment by tsm If the hard drive copying actually happened, then it sounds like the guy might actually have a case. Wouldn't most (smart) people in his position require employees to sign something acknowledging that materials like donor lists are the company's intellectual property and must be surrendered upon leaving?

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941770 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941770 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:11:08 -0800 Comment by TP tsm @ #2

I remember reading in some earlier news about this that she signed a confidentiality agreement that stated she could not use any property of his company for her own use/gain. If that is true, that she is in deep do-do.

]]> TP http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941782 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941782 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:17:22 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Hmm.

I wonder how long it will take her to search the online PDF database of campaign consultants on file with the state and how much they were paid ...

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941802 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941802 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:39:02 -0800 Comment by smells a rat She admits she copied company info and took it and put it on her hard drive.
That she then wiped clean the company computer of the data on it that would have shown she copied and took the comany data. After she gets sued, she admits this.

Her explanations: she didn't really want the data she copied from her employer's computer onto her own.
When she wiped the company computer cleanof the evidence of the copying, this was like tidying out her desk. And now, she really really promises she won't copy it all over again, and you can take the word of her attorney on that.

You've got to be Alberto Gonzalez to think she is innocent. She's basically admitted taking what isn't hers and covering it up until sued. Seems her only defense is she got caught before she went out and actually used the data to her own $$$$ benefit and harming her employer.

What would you think if someone you know took your private data from your computer, made a copy, then wiped your computer clean and claimed they were doing you a favor tidying it up for you?

]]> smells a rat http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941803 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941803 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:39:36 -0800 Comment by Dan Donor lists are disclosed on the internet. Public record! Jesus, people.

]]> Dan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941936 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c941936 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:02:56 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle And it's free info - you can search it at the public library ... and save it to a thumb drive ...

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942065 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942065 City Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:12:03 -0800 Comment by Such a sad waste I can't imagine that many of Colby's (soon to be former?) clients are too pleased to see this dirty laundry hung in public. Tends to reinforce the petty/sleazy labels that are constantly whispered about him by those in the know (altho ECB's smear of him with the 15 year old incident took it to a whole new level).

Suing a former employee for "taking" free and readily available public information? Seems desperate. Is he really that afraid of the competition? Should make potential clients question what they'll really get from him.

Ironic that the whole tawdry affair is doing far more harm to him than McKenna could have if she had actually used the list and given copies of it to every fundraiser in the state.

]]> Such a sad waste http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942150 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942150 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:35:41 -0800 Comment by lists Yes donor lists are available from the PDC, but they are in PDF, not a searchable format and they don't include phone numbers, the lifeblood of fundraising. Without cross-referenced lists of donors with numbers, she would have to start from scratch. With the list, she is ready to do. Same reason Burner didn't hire Colby this year, she doesn't need him because she now has her own list of donors, she doesn't need his lists anymore.

]]> lists http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942233 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942233 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:09:43 -0800 Comment by Such a load of crap @ 8:

Nice try Ms. Harman, or close friend of Ms. Hartman. You see that you can't win this court case so you are trying to have this out in the press - on the STRANGER SLOG no less? THAT'S desperate. And she's the one who admitted in court to not being able to get a single client. Give it up.

Call fundraising sleazy if you wish. Do it behind Colby's back. But man, when you need the dollars to win the race, who do you end up calling? Yeah, that's what I thought. The record speaks for itself. And Ms. Hartman's record so far is that she's unethical and a thief. Good start.

]]> Such a load of crap http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942235 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942235 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:12:20 -0800 Comment by Brian This is boring. The Stranger writers shouldn't use the Slog as a forum for their acquaintances to fight out a personal fight.

This is NOT NEWS!

Blah blah blah blah blah...

]]> Brian http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942239 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942239 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:14:09 -0800 Comment by Annie I agree. I'm over it. Fight it out in court where it belongs.

Next!

]]> Annie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942241 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c942241 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:15:43 -0800 Comment by McKenna Hartman It was wrong of me to take the information. How can I start my business without it? You mean to tell me that I have to create my OWN lists? I can't just steal others? What a cold, cruel world

]]> McKenna Hartman http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c943419 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c943419 City Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:22:30 -0800 Comment by *gong* I'm still trying to figure out why I'm supposed to care about this, other than for the "somebody did something wrong" factor.

]]> *gong* http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c945088 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/underwood_update#c945088 City Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:23:37 -0800