*NEWS*JUDGE TO HEAR LEXMARK 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.

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June 29, 2006 at 11:42 AM