He kept them on his work laptop, and they were swept up in discovery. Don't ignore your security team when they talk about data protection and not doing personal business on work devices.

Discovery is a lot more intrusive than people expect.

If you learn anything from this, it's that anything you write can ultimately show up in court. You have no right to privacy and your written words, no matter where they are written, are subject to be taken as evidence.

Yes it feels intrusive, but it's literally the first thing a lawyer would ask for.