Days ago, engineer Anthony Levandowski was indicted on criminal charges accusing him of stealing information from Google-owned Waymo and taking it to Uber. While the indictment alleges he downloaded 14,000 documents containing trade secrets before he left Google, Levandowski insists the downloads were his. An arbitration panel ordered Levandowski to pay Google $127 million. After firing Levandowski – who repeatedly asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination before the trial – his new employer, Uber, paid $245 million to settle its own civil lawsuit with Google. The sitting federal judge recommended a criminal probe into a possible theft – now an indictment. Everybody does it, right? Who pays the $372 million? Does Uber have to protect Levandowski? Can Levandowski claim ownership of his ideas? Can Levandowski go to jail?
Continue Reading Who Pays When Your New Employee Brings Your Competitor’s Trade Secrets?
Dashing Through Non-Competes Christmas Style
Wanting to expand out of North Dakota before the Christmas season, Homer’s Christmas Tree Farm picked Bubba’s Christmas Farm in the Texas Panhandle. Knowing that Bubba’s employee, Skeeter Jones, was critical to Bubba’s continuing success, Homer required Skeeter to sign a new employment contract complete with non-competition and non-solicitation provisions under North Dakota law. When
Protecting Your Customer List
You’re shell shocked. Super Sales Company’s best sales person Sally Star is sailing on.
She’s arrived to work on this last day of the month, picked up her commission check and shared The Shocker.
She quits, effective today. More bad news? Her new gig is your Biggest Competitor. Even worse? Sally Star has 5 years