The Consolidata Services Company (CDS) was established to provide small bus i nesses with payroll services. All CDS clients were required to pr ovide CDS with an advance deposit equal to the amount of one payroll. When CDS got into a cash flow problem, it tapped into some of this deposit money to cover its own debts. Eventually, the accounting firm of Alexander Grant, which had been hired by CDS to advise it on taxes and other financial ma t ters, discovered that the deposit account was $150,000 short. CDS a s sured Grant that it was devising a plan to cover the missing $150,000. Accordingly, CDS asked Grant not to reveal the deficit.

Nevertheless, Grant informed several of its own clients using the CDS payroll services and other nonclients of CDS’s problem. Was Alexander Grant correct in revealing the information?

What guidelines did the court use to answer this question? Explain. Wage n heim v. Alexander Grant and Co., 482 N.E.2d 955 (OH).