Non-Profit's Lawsuit Alleges Misappropriation of Trade Secrets, Creation of Monopoly
A complaint filed last month in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia raises an interesting question: if an employee has not signed a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement, can her former employer sue her for going to work for a competitor and taking some of her former employer’s clients with her? That’s the issue presented by Job Squad, Inc. v. Champion Industries, Inc., Civil Action No. 08-C-1123 (June 10, 2008). Here are the complaint and the answer and counterclaim, courtesy of the plaintiff’s counsel, Lisa Kerr.
Job Squad, Inc. is a non-profit community rehabilitation program, which operates a presort mail service in Charleston, West Virginia. Rhonda Copen was employed by Job Squad, Inc. until she resigned on March 26, 2008 and went to work for Champion Industries, Inc. Champion is a printing and office stationery company, which operates several businesses, including The Herald-Dispatch, the Huntington, West Virginia daily newspaper.
Shortly after Copen began work for Champion, at least two of Job Squad’s customers, BB&T and TicketMaster, terminated their accounts and moved to Champion.
Job Squad has alleged in its complaint that Copen and Champion misappropriated its confidential financial information in violation of West Virginia Code §§ 47-22-2 and 47-22-3, which deal with trade secrets, and have monopolized or attempted to monopolize the commercial mailing business within West Virginia in violation of West Virginia Code § 47-18-4. Job Squad has also alleged that Copen and Champion tortiously interfered with its business relationships.
In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, Job Squad has also asked for a preliminary injunction that would require Copen and Champion to cease and desist from competing with Job Squad in the presort mail business; providing presort mail services to Job Squad's current or former customers; using Job Squad’s confidential information; and communicating with its employees or customers.
Job Squad did not allege that the defendants violated any non-compete agreement or non-solicitation agreement, and that may be the crux of their defense. Copen and Champion have denied any liability to Job Squad, and have asserted a counterclaim for tortious interference with Champion’s existing and/or expected contractual and business relationships with its customers.
The Trade Secrets Vault blog from the Franklin Pierce Law Center wrote about the lawsuit in this post earlier this month.
My son has been an employee of JSI Presort for over 2 years being hired while Rhonda was there. These folks were working full time hours until she resigned. Since then, the hours have been consistently reduced to the point where my son works 4-5 hours/day. The fact that those contracts left with Rhonda is undeniable. It is distressing to think that Presort might face closure as a result of personal and corporate greed. Rhonda had a long history with employment for the disabled and her actions are dispicable! These folks only want a chance to support themselves and gain some personal independence. JSI is virtually the "only game in town" for these folks. From the moment she left and the contracts began disappearing, I wondered how she could sleep at night. If there is anything of value that I can do, I hope someone can direct me!
All one can say is Big business and selfish people have crushed the poor once again. Handicapped
workers are at the mercy of the courts.I think misappropriation of trade secrets would be the least of the charges. How about destroying several lives for personal greed?