What do you usually do when leaving a company? Hand over company mobile phones or car keys? Well, you may have to hand over your twitter followers as well in the future. A mobile phone retailer company has sued an employee named Mr Kravitz for taking his Twitter follower with him as he leaves his job.

Kravitz reportedly was employed by Phonedog as a blogger who had gained 17,000 followers on twitter account under his name. The company has sued him claiming that each of the 17,000 followers is worth $2.50 a month as his follower list was equivalent to a list of customers the company has which is their property.

As the case reaches court, there is a legal question whether followers can be termed as a commodity that can be owned and whether corporate Twitter accounts under one’s real name needs to be handed over at the end of job period.

However, Kravitz’s account now has about 22,000 followers. The account usually tweets about Android phones, liquorice and flu bags.He told the New York Times that he had agreed to retain control of his twitter account and said that he used to tweet on behalf of the company from time to time (and definitely not all the time).

The company sought damage from the blogger after eight months saying in a statement that “The costs and resources invested by Phonedog Media into growing its followers, fans and general brand awareness through social media are substantial and are considered property of Phonedog Media.”

Next time you’re taking a job, make sure you clarify everything regarding your social media accounts.

Spotted @ Daily Mail.