Trade Secrets, Non-Competes and E-Mail Do Not Go Well Together (Unless You Like Punitive Damages) - Part 6
The last few posts have considered the Hamilton-Ryker Group, LLC v Keymon case and its holdings on the issues of trade secrets, non-competes, and damages. So, what is the final take-away from this case? While there are many interesting issues in the case, there are three key points to remember.
By Trade Secrets, Non-Competes and E-Mail Do Not Go Well Together (Unless You Like Punitive Damages) - Part 5
The trial court found that Tammy Keymon violated the non-compete contained in her Employment Agreement and misappropriated trade secrets of her former employer. The Court then found the misappropriation was “willful and malicious” and awarded exemplary damages. Now it was time to total the bill.
Trade Secrets, Non-Competes and E-Mail Do Not Go Well Together (Unless You Like Punitive Damages) - Part 4
Tammy Keymon learned that e-mailing her former employer’s client information to herself violated Tennessee’s trade secret statute. Even though most of the information could have been gathered from public sources, the aggregation and speed of acquisition from her former employer (which the Court found took reasonable steps to protect the information by password-protecting its computer network), constituted a misappropriation of trade secrets.
Trade Secrets, Non-Competes and E-Mail Do Not Go Well Together (Unless You Like Punitive Damages) - Part 3
Things were not going well for Tammy Keymon, the defendant in Hamilton-Ryker Group, LLC v Keymon. As I noted in the last post, the Court ruled she violated her non-compete. However, Tammy’s legal woes were far from over. Her former employer (against whom she had started a competing business the day after resigning) also sued her under Tennessee’s version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
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