Cy-Fair residents sued over trade secrets

A web hosting services company is suing former employees from Cy-Fair, Katy and Missouri City, claiming they conspired to solicit clients for and disclose confidential information to a business competitor.

Softlayer Technologies Inc. filed a lawsuit on March 8 in the Harris County District Court against Cy-Fair resident Julian Rodriguez, Jerry Howell of Katy, Jennifer Harwell of Missouri City, Chris Reimer and Peak Web, alleging breach of employment contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with business relations, conversion and conspiracy.

The plaintiff states that when the defendants terminated their employment with Softlayer Technologies to work for its competitor, Peak Web, they conspired to take Softlayer’s most sensitive and confidential customer information with them. According to the brief, the defendants violated their employment contracts by using Softlayer’s proprietary information, including customer lists and pricing structures, to benefit its business competitor, Peak Web.

Softlayer is seeking injunctive relief, actual, exemplary and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees and court costs. It is being represented in the case by Houston attorney Scott McLaughlin.

Harris County District Court Case No. 2011-14644.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.