Employee fired, charged with bringing former employer’s confidential information with him
July 2, 2008
An executive asks and is given for confidential sales information, marked as “confidential” and with a request not to distribute it. Not long afterwards, he quits and takes a similar position with a competitor of his former employer. Shortly after that, on his own initiative, he gives the confidential information to his new employer. That gets him fired by his new company, and then charged with criminal theft of trade secrets by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a nutshell, that’s what allegedly happened with Atul Malhotra, who has been indicted for giving IBM confidential information to HP. See the write-up in Wired magazine and the charging document filed in court.
Camel’s noses and tents
April 17, 2008
The Wall Street Journal opines about the recent resignation of former General Re CEO Joseph Brandon, thought to have been brought about by pressure from the Department of Justice:
… the Sage of Omaha may not have had much choice. Fiduciary duty to Berkshire shareholders requires him to avoid a criminal indictment of Gen Re at any cost. Such a reputational blow is a likely death sentence for any financial company…. We have come to a strange pass in this country when prosecutors who can’t prove their case can nonetheless tell Warren Buffett who can run his companies.
(Emphasis added.)