Although, one could also make the case that he already had access to the code before his departure as part of his daily responsibilities. Therefore, the fact that he was leaving had no real implications in him knowing the innards of the application and its source code.
What I don't understand is why there's no word about an NDA between Goldman and Mr Aleynikov. Had he been under contractual obligations, or bounded by a noncompete clause, Mr Aleynikov wouldn't have been incentivized to extract code from the repository to being with. It seems logical to me that if you're dealing with coveted IP, a contract between the parties is a necessity rather than a luxury.
What I don't understand is why there's no word about an NDA between Goldman and Mr Aleynikov. Had he been under contractual obligations, or bounded by a noncompete clause, Mr Aleynikov wouldn't have been incentivized to extract code from the repository to being with. It seems logical to me that if you're dealing with coveted IP, a contract between the parties is a necessity rather than a luxury.