Jeweler sues former employees for allegedly taking secret info

On behalf of H. Clay Parker, Esq. posted in Business Litigation on Tuesday, June 6, 2017.

Up the eastern seaboard from Orlando, Florida, there is a trade secret lawsuit going on between Smyth Jewelers — a century-old business with a significant presence in Baltimore — and former employees of the company that went on to start their own jewelry company. The former chief operating officer, former vice president, and some other former employees of Smyth Jewelers allegedly took a list of customers and company information from a Dropbox account and used that information to start Meritage Fine Jewelers.

Smyth Jewelers claims that the Dropbox account contained information on more than 50,000 customers, including their purchasing history. The jeweler has filed a trade secret lawsuit against the former employees who went on to start Meritage Fine Jewelers.

Trade secret protection laws are critical to allowing unique businesses or businesses with unique ideas and traits to thrive. It is because of their secret information that they succeed, and since they succeed in this way, the information that causes the success is obviously sought after. If the information is made public, or if even a different group learns of the information, the once-unique nature of the business is ruined.

Trade secret protection laws are intended to preserve a company’s secret information and allow them to operate with security. If company information is leaked and it is secret in nature, then that business needs to consult with an attorney as soon as possible to ensure their interests are protected.

Source: Baltimore Sun, “Smyth Jewelers accuses former employees of trade-secret violations in lawsuit,” Lorraine Mirabella, June 5, 2017