Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!

Xia Tian sat up slightly straighter, while recalling what Nan Zhubin had just said and organizing her thoughts.

"The first mentor—officially employed by the institution, illegally switched jobs to the Port District without completing resignation procedures, took away substantial research data belonging to the school, students were forced to switch mentors or drop out, the school reported it to the police but failed to hold him accountable. Is that correct?"

Nan Zhubin nodded.

As a law student, Xia Tian’s memory was also excellent.

"The second mentor—in-post doctoral supervisor, required students to perform numerous tasks unrelated to graduation, and did not promise the conversion of academic achievements, students dared not refuse because graduation qualifications were in her hands."

Nan Zhubin nodded once more.

"Compared to the first situation, the second one is... more common." Xia Tian sighed.

Nan Zhubin sighed as well.

Xia Tian picked up her teacup, took a sip, and put it down: "The first situation is indeed more complicated."

Nan Zhubin nodded: "That’s why reporting it to the police was useless for the academy."

Xia Tian explained: "Teachers employed by higher education institutions are governed by the ’Regulations on Personnel Management for Public Institutions,’ not the ’Labor Contract Law.’

Xia Tian lifted her chopsticks and separated them like parallel lines.

"The differences in logic between these two systems are significant."

"Under the labor contract law framework, a worker can terminate the contract by giving thirty days written notice, which is a statutory right. But under the framework for public institutions, although Article 17 also stipulates that staff can terminate the employment contract with thirty days’ written notice, in practice it is restricted by service agreements, training agreements, and such additional covenants."

She paused.

Nan Zhubin had already learned about the Labor Contract Law’s content when he participated in the EAP project before. So now he quickly understood what Xia Tian was explaining.

Xia Tian continued: "For instance, if a teacher received training funds during their doctoral studies, signed a service agreement, leaving prematurely may require refunding related costs and paying damages. How much compensation is needed depends on the contract’s stipulations. But if the contract’s damages clause is unreasonable, the court will not support it."

Nan Zhubin pondered for a moment.

"But that situation isn’t about resignation procedures." Nan Zhubin quickly identified the distinction.

"Right," Xia Tian, after switching into work mode, seemed like a different person as her language became succinct, "He ran off directly, without completing any procedures, and took the data—this isn’t an ordinary resignation dispute anymore."

Xia Tian recalled what Nan Zhubin had just mentioned: "First, by not completing the procedures and leaving, he unilaterally terminates the employment relationship, and the school can hold him accountable for breach of contract. But breach of contract is only on a civil level, the compensation depends on the contract’s stipulations. If there is no clear damages clause, the school’s claim to losses is very limited."

After thinking for a bit, Xia Tian added: "Teacher Nan, do you know the nature of the data taken by this mentor?"

Nan Zhubin shook his head; this matter was indeed a deeply hidden secret within the academy.

Of course, if he were to ask Bai Qinghua, he could definitely get some answers. It’s just that Nan Zhubin hadn’t wanted to delve deeply into it previously, since his initial understanding of the issue was merely to address the visitor’s present and future.

Nan Zhubin honestly stated: "All I know is it’s the project group’s experimental data, along with data from collaboration projects with other teachers."

Xia Tian first pondered for a while, then slowly nodded.

"Then I can only make a rough guess about the development of the situation."

Xia Tian pursed her lips: "If this data constitutes the school’s official results, then legally it’s not just a breach issue. The ’Anti-Unfair Competition Law’ clearly states that acquiring the holder’s commercial secret through theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, or other inappropriate methods constitutes infringement of commercial secret rights. Commercial secrets are defined as technology information, business information, etc., that are not known to the public, have commercial value, and have corresponding confidentiality measures taken by the holder."

She explained in detail.

She looked at Nan Zhubin: "If those data fit this definition—having research value, with confidentiality measures taken by the school, and inaccessible from the outside—then what he did could constitute infringement of commercial secrets. It’s not just a contract dispute, it’s civil infringement, and might even involve criminal liabilities."

It seemed there was a point to start from.

Nan Zhubin nodded: "But the academy eventually let it go."

This is where the problem lies.

"Because of the costs."

When saying this, Xia Tian sighed as a legal practitioner.

"To sue requires evidence, proving those data meet the statutory requirements for commercial secrets, along with a lot of related work—these all require substantial economic, time, and labor costs."

"Teacher Nan, you mentioned that mentor went to the Port District. If the academy wants to sue, delivering legal documents, investigating and collecting evidence, enforcing judgments, each step involves cross-regional judicial collaboration. The civil litigation process is already lengthy, cross-regional cases could drag on for years."

"Perhaps the school calculated the costs and chose internal resolutions."

Xia Tian thought for a moment: "Of course, there might be more internal considerations involved. Or perhaps they privately reached some agreement with the school in the Port District, just that we don’t know."

This kind of thing isn’t unimaginable.

But regardless of how the academy handled it, it wasn’t relevant to the students—at least for those abandoned students.

Nan Zhubin sighed and asked: "What about the second situation then?"

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