JUDGE TO HEAR LEXMARK NON-COMPETE MOTION

[Anonymous]

Judge to hear Lexmark non-compete motion
The
case of a former Lexmark International employee who defected to
industry leader Hewlett-Packard will return to Fayette Circuit Court
today.Attorneys for Lexmark will argue that Bruce Dahlgren should be
compelled to answer certain questions posed during a recent
deposition.Dahlgren left Lexmark for HP in January after nearly six
years as a vice president and general manager. He was considered among
the company’s top 20 executives, according to testimony.Lexmark alleges
Dahlgren, in doing so, violated a non-compete clause in his
contract.Earlier this year, a Lexington judge issued a temporary
restraining order, ruling that Dahlgren must abide by the agreement,
which prohibits him from working in his new job for one year and from
luring away Lexmark’s employees or certain customers for three
years.But a judge in California, where non-competes are generally
prohibited, said Lexmark could not enforce that ruling.Both companies
have declined to comment on the litigation.Lexmark’s attorneys took a
deposition of Dahlgren in May, but they will argue that Dahlgren be
forced to answer questions “regarding conversations and communications”
with a human resources executive at HP and HP’s in-house
attorney.Lexmark will also request that HP and Dahlgren hand over
documents about the conversations, plus make the attorney available for
a deposition about the matter.The attorneys will again be in court on
June 30 when Lexmark will request that Judge Thomas Clark find Dahlgren
and HP in contempt.Lexmark claims Dahlgren and HP have violated Clark’s
order, as “Dahlgren has refused to return Lexmark documents.” The
company alleges Dahlgren has also done work that competes with
Lexmark’s North American business, which the non-compete forbids him
from doing.

[Author]

June 29, 2006 at 11:43 AM