NORTHERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. V. TORMA
819 N.E.2d 417 (2005)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Northern (P) appealed a judgment for Torma (D) in P's suit against D,
alleging a violation of the Indiana Uniform Trade Secret Act, conversion, and breach of
fiduciary duty.
FACTS: P is a family-owned electric motor repair shop employing approximately thirty
employees. P repairs servo motors for its customers. Repairing a computer malfunction in a
servo motor requires between ten and fifteen bits of data that differ for each make and
model. P continued to repair servo motors until the mid-1990s. D who had been an employee
since 1990, approached P seeking permission to continue the repair service for servo motors.
P consented and placed d in charge of the servo motor department. While D supervised the
department, the servo motor repair service grew, eventually accounting for approximately 33%
of P's business by the time D left the company. D assembled motor repair data in a spiral
notebook. D gathered the data from readings he took or discerned during the actual repair of
the motor, and from data collected by other P employees. D also gained information from
personal contacts with representatives of manufacturers and other servo motor shops,
manuals, service bulletins maintained by P, and various internet sites. D directed the other
technicians to similarly record and maintain data readings. D eventually entered the data
into a word processing file, organized by manufacturer, stored on his home computer. D took
the information to work on a floppy disk. His compilation is the result of seven years of
data collection for more than 650 servo motors. D never permitted another technician access
to his entire compilation. D terminated his employment with P after he was unable to reach
an agreement with his employer on his compensation and duties. P had unsuccessfully pursued
a non-compete agreement with D. D refused to return the data he had gathered during the
course of his employment with P. D began working at Hy-Tech, a competing servo motor repair
company he had founded before resigning his position at P. P sued D. The trial court ordered
D to return all prototypes obtained by him while in P's employment, to provide P with a copy
of all servo motor specifications developed while employed, and to keep complete records as
to any use of these specifications by him and any economic advantage he derives from such
use. A bench trial was held for a violation of the Indiana Trade Secret Act, statutory
conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court entered judgment in favor of D and
Hy-Tech. P appealed.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
Get
free access to the entire content for Mac, PC or Online
for 2-3 days and free samples
of all kinds of products.
for 2-3 days and free samples of all kinds of products.
https://bsmsphd.com
© 2007-2016 Abn Study Partner
No comments:
Post a Comment