Randall Lane probably didn’t break the law by accepting $6 million while working at Forbes, but he may still pay a price under a 140-year-old doctrine

Randall Lane, former chief content officer at Forbes, was fired in July after it was discovered he received an undisclosed $6 million payment from RJ Shook, founder of Shook Research. The payment had been going on for years and was unrelated to Lane's work. Forbes found out about the payment when Shook sold a majority stake in his company to private equity firm PPC Enterprises, which reviewed the company's email correspondence and found a record of the payment.

Lane acknowledged the payment and was fired, stating he should have disclosed the gift, which he considered a personal favor and not work-related. The more pressing legal issue is whether Lane violated a 140-year-old common-law doctrine known as the "Faithless Servant" doctrine. This doctrine allows employers to recover compensation from employees found to have acted disloyally, potentially even the entirety of their compensation history.

Forbes likely had an employee handbook requiring Lane to seek permission before accepting outside payments and barring personal gain from company relationships, treating it as a binding contract. Employment attorney Richard Friedman emphasized that employees owe fiduciary duties to their employers, regardless of any written policies.

The payment's disclosure came to light due to PPC Enterprises reviewing their email correspondence after buying Shook Research.