Category: Misappropriation of Trade Secrets

Multistate Non-solicitation Agreements: Does One Size Fit All?

Multistate Non-solicitation Agreements: Does One Size Fit All?

Many employers have offices in multiple states, but want to have one form of employee agreement prohibiting solicitation of employees and customers. Since some state laws, namely California, may be too different to reconcile with other states, what sort of non-solicitation agreements work in California? In California, non-solicitation agreements are reviewed as contracts which prevent a person from engaging in...

Quirky Question #283: They Stole Our Stuff, Can We Sue?

Question: My company recently terminated an employee, and we are very worried she accessed her email inappropriately in the days before she was fired. The timing of it all is … well, quirky. Here’s what happened: The employee’s manager met with her on a Friday and informed her that her performance was not acceptable, even after several earlier warnings to...

Quirky Question #281: Deploying the DTSA

Question: We believe our former employee recently stole some of our trade secrets and went to a competitor.  Can we rely on the Defend Trade Secrets Act to bring suit in federal court?

Quirky Question # 276: Ex-Employees Gone Rogue

Question: Our company uses agreements to try to protect our confidential and proprietary information. One of our former sales employees recently left us to work for a competing company.  We have evidence he took with him our confidential information about our clients and is planning to use it to sell products to our clients for his new employer.  When we reminded...

Question #273: Crafting a Concrete Non-Compete

Question: Our company uses non-compete and non-solicit agreements that bar former employees from having contact with any client of our company after they leave. One former employee who recently left is now claiming the agreement is invalid because it is “overly broad” in that it bars him from soliciting not only those clients of ours he used to work with,...

Question #272: Competing in California

Question: One of our company’s employees recently left to start a competing business. We think he started this process while he was still employed by us, and that he is probably using information he learned from us.  We’re in California, so I know we don’t have a non-compete agreement with him.  Do we have any other recourse?

Quirky Question # 141, Customer Lists as Trade Secrets

Quirky Question # 141, Customer Lists as Trade Secrets

Quirky Question # 141: One of our sales employees recently left our company.  He now is starting to call on our customers.  It appears that he may have some of our customer lists in his possession. We do not have any post-employment restrictive covenants, such as a non-compete or a non-solicitation agreement, that would govern his conduct.  But, aren’t customer...

When Workers Steal Data to Use at New Jobs

When Workers Steal Data to Use at New Jobs

When Workers Steal Data to Use at New Jobs Despite some negative case law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is an effective tool for employers. In response to the economic crisis, companies have downsized, resulting in some terminated employees stealing vital data to improve their job opportunities with a new employer. In addition to traditional state remedies such as...

Stealing Confidential Information, Quirky Question # 78

Stealing Confidential Information, Quirky Question # 78

Quirky Question # 78: I am the HR Director at our company.  I just learned that one of our most valuable employees has resigned and taken a position with a competitor.  I requested our IT Department to make an evaluation of his computer.  They reported to me that before he left, he emailed to himself and his new employer customer...