Acme-Hardesty v. Jayant Oil & Derivatives Ltd
May 24, 2008OUTCOME: $7 million jury verdict.
Sebris Busto James and Cozen O’Connor yesterday won a $7 million jury verdict in the Montgomery Court of Common Pleas in a trade secrets, duty of loyalty, unfair competition and conspiracy case again ... st an international castor oil distributor company, its American subsidiary and two former employees of the plaintiff. Sebris Busto James attorney Ed Taylor and Cozen O’Connor labor & employment attorney David Walton* represented Acme-Hardesty, a Blue-Bell based subsidiary of Jacob Stern & Sons and one of the largest value-added resellers of oleochemicals in the U.S. The lead defendant was India-based manufacturer Jayant Oil & Derivatives Ltd. Acme-Hardesty bought most of their castor oil derivatives from Jayant. When Jayant decided to open its own distribution company in the U.S. to compete against Acme-Hardesty, it hired two Acme-Hardesty employees. The jury found the two employees stole trade secrets and confidential information, and that Jayant used this information to launch the U.S. company, JODL, Inc. The trial uncovered the substantial destruction of evidence by the defendants, including the wiping out of computer hard drives.
