(sarcasm, but true story, afaik:) You could do what I understand a former employer of mine did: fire the employee, then call the state police and report that th

(sarcasm, but true story, afaik:) You could do what I understand a former employer of mine did: fire the employee, then call the state police and report that the employee "stole" company property by not wiping source code from a personal laptop as was demanded by the company at the time of firing. Police confiscated laptop, and employee was forced to hire counsel to get it back. I imagine it was effective at encouraging the employee to delete the data, but at the great cost of advertising to all employees that we were all viewed as dirt. If there's a lesson to take from this, it's that when you're in a position of power, you should use sticks carefully if at all. But I hope that many (including the OP) already learned that lesson as a child. (Thankfully, I was able to leave the company myself not long after.)