Oldcastle, Staley, Settle Trade Secret Suit; Staley to Pay Oldcastle $10,000
August 6, 2012

by Penny Stacey, pstacey@glass.com

Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope™ (OBE) and Jon Todd Staley have settled their lawsuit. Staley, a former employee against whom OBE had filed suit last year, and OBE entered into an agreement by which Staley will pay the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company $10,000. OBE had sued Staley last October, alleging that he misappropriated trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary information obtained during his employment with the company.

According to the order, the parties were able to settle the dispute "without admission of any wrongdoing or liability."

The $10,000 Staley will be required to pay is considered “partial compensation for [OBE’s] fees and costs incurred in bringing this action,” according to the order. Beyond that, each party will bear his or its own fees and costs incurred in connection with the case.

According to the consent order signed by the court, a third-party forensic review of Staley’s personal home computer “found various Oldcastle business documents remained on his personal home computer following his separation from employment with Oldcastle.”

The forensic services provider permanently deleted “such information from Staley’s computer devices, and returned such computer devices to Staley on or about June 12, 2012.”

“On June 13, Staley certified that he no longer possessed any Oldcastle documents or material, including but not limited to any of the documents found by the computer forensic review on his personal computer devices,” writes the court.

The order specifies that Staley is now “permanently enjoined from using or disclosing in any manner any proprietary, confidential or trade secret information of Oldcastle in his possession, custody or control.”

The court will “retain jurisdiction over this action for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this consent order.”

“Should Oldcastle have a reasonable basis to believe that there has been a violation of the foregoing provision, it shall articulate such basis through written notice to Staley and his counsel,” writes the court. “Staley shall respond to such notice in writing within seven days in an effort to address the issues raised by such notice.”

The order further provides that if OBE  is not “satisfied with Staley’s response,” it may move the court for leave to conduct discovery regarding any suggested violations.

The parties had previously advised the court that they were in settlement discussions and were previously given a deadline of August 24 to complete mediation.