Milestone 1
I. Introduction

As an intern at the legal department of Greene’s Jewelry Wholesale, I am convinced that the company does indeed have significant strengths in as far as its legal claim is concerned. This is more so the case given that Jennifer Lawson did indeed sign a confidentiality agreement whereby she made a commitment to keep any information gathered relating to the creation of Ever-Gold secret. It is important to note that she never signed a ‘not to compete’ agreement. This, however, has no connection to the issue at hand because Jennifer has not necessarily established an enterprise that seeks to compete with Greene’s Jewelry. On the other hand, when it comes to the legal defense of the company, it would be prudent to note that Greene’s Jewelry position would be weak. The subsequent sections of this text not only analyze the facts and laws relevant to the scenario presented, but also evaluate the various facts to be determined. Cases that support the position of Greene’s Jewelry will also be highlighted.

II. Client’s Case

A. Facts and Laws

Jennifer has been sued by Greene’s Jewelry for breach of the confidentiality agreement she signed. In the said confidentiality agreement, Jennifer made a commitment not to share any information gathered in the course of her employment, relating to the processes that Greene’s Jewelry uses to create and develop Ever-Gold, with a third party. Following her dismissal from the company, Jennifer unintentionally left with a letter detailing Ever-Gold’s secret creation process. She should have returned the said letter the moment she noticed she had it. Further, in search of new employment, she proceeded to place a call to Howell Jewelry World - one of Greene’s Jewelry main competitors - and proclaim she had confidential information in relation to the creation of Ever-Gold. Following her signing of the formal employment contract at Howell, Jennifer handed over the letter detailing Ever-Gold’s secret creation process to Howell’s hiring manager.

In basic terms, it should be noted that from a legal perspective, breach of a confidentiality agreement is deemed to have occurred in those instances whereby an employee discloses material information, such as a trade secret, that they had committed not to disclose. More specifically, in the words of Bagley (2012), “an individual misappropriates a trade secret when he or she (1) uses or discloses the trade secret of another or (2) learns of a trade secret through improper means” (333). It is therefore clear that in the presented scenario, Jennifer did indeed disclose the trade secret of Greene’s Jewelry. It is on this basis that Greene’s Jewelry sues this particular former employee for breach of the confidentiality agreement. Following the enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, Greene’s Jewelry is in a strong position to pursue a civil...…claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 to be successful, the company must be able to demonstrate that Jennifer did indeed engage in what could be deemed ‘misappropriation.’ Towards this end, there are a few considerations that would be of great relevance in as far as the said misappropriation is concerned. To begin with, Greene’s Jewelry ought to be in a position to indicate that indeed Jennifer disclosed a trade secret which was by its nature confidential. Further, Greene’s Jewelry should also demonstrate that the former employee did have an obligation of confidence in relation to the said trade secret. Greene’s Jewelry could also show that Jennifer did not have authorization to either disclose or share the trade secret. Our pursuit of a claim for breach would further be buttressed by proof that Greene’s Jewelry has indeed suffered some business damage or loss as a consequence of the said disclosure.

In as far as Jennifer’s countersuit is concerned, it would be prudent to note that there are several exceptions that we could invoke in our defense. As the U.S. Department of Labor (2020) indicates, exceptions to WARN Act do indeed exist “when layoffs occur due to unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering companies, and natural disasters.” These are some of the facts that ought to be established on this front. Was the downsizing a consequence of unforeseeable business circumstances? In the present case study, the…