Case No. IP-2019-000175

25.Although the claim alleges that Ms Muller failed properly to store, and/or removed, electronic files including 3D models and CGIs, Mr Padalino accepted in cross-examination that Ms Muller did not use computers at all for her architectural work. She carried out all of her design work by way of free-hand drawing and delivered all her drawings to a DPA staff member to scan into DPA’s server. Mr Padalino accepted that he had no complaints that Ms Muller failed to comply with DPAs storage protocol, which she complied with by providing her drawings to be stored in this way. He accepted that she did not carry out any 2D or 3D design work using AutoCAD, and that she did not carry out CGI work. 26.Mr D’Aguanno accepts that he was informed of DPA’s protocol for storage of work on DPA’s server when he started work, and says that he followed it at all times, including performing weekly backups of DPA’s computers to the archive server from September 2017. Mr D’Aguanno says that in order to carry out CGI work on his personal laptop, he needed a link to DPA’s server because the files he was using were so large and complex it would have been very difficult and time consuming to move them any other way. He says this link was installed by ‘Nick’, DPA’s IT consultant, and enabled him to save everything he created on his laptop directly to DPA’s server. 27.Mr Padalino appears to accept in his second witness statement at paragraph 14 that Mr D’Aguanno may have had a direct connection from his laptop to the server, but says if so, he (Mr Padalino) was not aware of it. 28.Mr Gill was asked if he knew how Mr D’Aguanno saved documents from his own laptop to the DPA server and he said, “I assume that he saved it to a memory stick and then put that in the server”. He accepted that was merely an assumption as he was not working at DPA when Mr D’Aguanno was there, having arrived only after Mr D’Aguanno had left. Mr Owusu probed him in cross-examination, asking him whether, in investigating whether Claimant Works were missing, he did not investigate how Mr D’Aguanno had saved documents? Mr Gill replied, “It came out as part of the investigation”, however I think his first two answers were the correct ones – that he merely assumed that Mr D’Aguanno was moving documents by use of memory sticks. 29.I will return to consideration of what work Mr D’Aguanno carried out on his laptop, but upon considering all of the evidence (including that which I set out later) I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that, as Mr Padalino accepts was possible, Mr D’Aguanno did have a link installed between his personal laptop and the DPA server.