## Facts

- Louis E. Thyroff served as an exclusive insurance agent under an agreement with Nationwide beginning in 1988.
- Nationwide leased Thyroff an “agency office-automation” computer system (hardware and software) used to collect and transmit customer information.
- Thyroff stored business records and also personal emails, correspondence, and other customer-related information on the system.
- Nationwide automatically uploaded the system’s contents, including Thyroff’s personal data, to Nationwide’s centralized computers on a daily basis.
- Nationwide terminated Thyroff’s agency contract in September 2000, repossessed the computer system the next day, and denied him further access to the computers and electronic data.
- Thyroff alleged he was unable to retrieve customer information and other personal information stored on the system and sued in federal court, including a claim for conversion of his electronic records and data.

## Issues

1. Whether New York law recognizes a tort claim for conversion of purely electronic computer records and data, where the data are stored electronically and not embodied in a tangible document.

## Decision

- The New York Court of Appeals accepted a certified question from the Second Circuit asking whether a claim for conversion of electronic data is cognizable under New York law.
- The court answered yes, holding that the electronic records at issue—computer-stored records indistinguishable from printed documents—may be the subject of a conversion claim.
- The court concluded that, on the alleged facts, Thyroff could maintain a conversion claim for the electronic records and data Nationwide took possession of and withheld.

## Legal Principles

- Conversion is not confined to tangible chattels; New York common law has extended conversion to certain intangible property interests traditionally protected when “merged” into or represented by a tangible document.
- The traditional requirement tying conversion of intangible rights to a physical document is outmoded when the property at issue consists of electronic records functionally equivalent to paper documents.
- Electronic records and data that are indistinguishable from printed documents may be treated as property subject to conversion, provided the plaintiff has a possessory or ownership interest and the defendant exercised dominion or control to the exclusion of the plaintiff’s rights.
- The court’s recognition was limited to the type of electronic information at issue and did not resolve whether all forms of digital information are subject to conversion.

## Conclusion

The New York Court of Appeals held that a conversion claim may lie for certain purely electronic records—specifically, electronic data stored on a computer that are indistinguishable from printed documents—thereby permitting Thyroff’s conversion theory to proceed under New York law.


Thyroff v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 8 N.Y.3d 283, 864 N.E.2d 1272 (N.Y. 2007)