Gabbard

Mr. Gabbard, a former member of Wal-Mart's Threat Research and Analysis team, was fired by the retailer in early 2007 for monitoring phone conversations between a New York Times reporter and Wal-Mart employees and intercepting pager communications.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

The judge left the order open for 30 days to give Mr. Gabbard time to defend himself, but he didn't show up.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

But in November 2009, Wal-Mart went back to court and persuaded a judge that Mr. Gabbard still had confidential company documents, in part because in 2008 he told a former Wal-Mart employee about a computer breach there.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

The company is pursuing contempt-of-court charges against Bruce Gabbard , a former computer-security specialist at Wal-Mart, who now lives in Oklahoma.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

In April, Mr. Gabbard was served with a summons asking Oklahoma authorities to hold Mr. Gabbard so a Benton County sheriff could bring him to Arkansas to answer the civil contempt charges, according to Mr. Gabbard's attorney, David Massey .

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

Both Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., and Mr. Gabbard said they thought at that point the matter was behind them.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

In spring 2007, Wal-Mart got a temporary restraining order against Mr. Gabbard, preventing him from further leaking confidential company information.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

Bruce Gabbard Wal-Mart said in an interview that it has credible evidence that Mr. Gabbard still has confidential Wal-Mart information, in violation of a temporary restraining order issued by a Benton County, Ark., circuit court judge in 2007 and a permanent injunction issued the following year.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

A permanent injunction the following summer ordered Mr. Gabbard to relinquish any Wal-Mart trade-secret information he still possessed.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011

Wal-Mart thinks Mr. Gabbard still has company documents based on postings he made on his website as recently as a month ago and on a forensics investigation of the computers Mr. Gabbard turned over to authorities that allegedly show he copied information before surrendering the hardware, said two people close to the company.

Fired Worker Sues Wal-Mart, Adding Twist to Leak Case Ann Zimmerman 2011