Solar Firm Slaps Rival With Trade Secret Suit
SunPower says exiting employees copied thousands of files before joining SunEdison.
June 03, 2015 at 01:07 PM
2 minute read
SAN FRANCISCO — San Jose-based solar panel maker SunPower sued a clean energy rival and a group of former employees on Wednesday claiming that they conspired to steal trade secrets and proprietary company information.
SunPower's complaint, filed by lawyers at Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, claims that Belmont-based SunEdison poached more than 20 SunPower employees from its offices in Italy, Spain, and the United States from 2011 to 2014. Several exiting employees copied large sets of files from SunPower's computers and servers in the time leading up to their departures, the suit alleges.
SunPower singles out SunEdison executive Vikas Desai—himself a former SunPower employee—and two employees he allegedly recruited over to SunEdison, Shane Messer and Kendall Fong.
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