Client_News

The Dallas Business Journal:

Public relations firm Hill and Knowlton Inc. and two of its North Texas executives have agreed to a temporary restraining order that bars them from using or disclosing internal documents from the executives’ previous employer, Weber Shandwick, court documents show.

The Jan. 18 restraining order by Dallas state district court judge Emily Tobolowsky comes on the heels of a Jan. 17 lawsuit filed by Weber Shandwick that alleges one of those individuals, Plano resident Jody Venturoni, stole internal Weber documents. The lawsuit also accuses another former Weber executive, Dallas resident Kenneth Luce, of luring Weber clients and employees away to Hill and Knowlton in violation of a non-solicitation agreement.

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Lessons for employers

Companies need to be vigilant about their policies regarding the electronic transmission of their trade secrets outside their walls, according to Mark Shank, a partner at the Dallas litigation boutique Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank LLP.

Gruber Hurst Attorney Mark Shank in Dallas Business article

For one, they need to have policies in place making clear that the employers own the computers and email servers that workers use — and can peer into those devices at any time, Shank said.

“If you have (trade secrets), identify them at the beginning of the employment relationship,” Shank said. At that point, draft appropriate documents to protect the proprietary data, he said.

In addition, focus the documentation narrowly on what you’re trying to protect, Shank added. “An overbroad agreement is much harder to enforce.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2012/01/27/firm-agrees-to-restraining-order-in-pr.html

© 2012 American City Business Journals, Inc.