Question

This comes from Business Law Fifth Edition James F Morgan Chapter 2 Alice was an employee of Elephant Enterprises. She does not like that she cannot get a raise and is working longer hours than she desires. After many months of thinking, Alice decides to go into business for herself. Just before leaving the employment of Elephant Enterprises, Alice copies the names and contact information of all the clients within the Elephant Enterprises database. As she starts her new business, Alice communicates with all of the Elephant Enterprises’ clients and solicits their business. A statute in the state where Elephant Enterprises and Alice conduct business prohibits the taking of trade secrets from a business. Has Alice violated the statute? What tool of legal reasoning should apply? How would you employ the selected legal reasoning tool to support your conclusion?

Answer 1

Alice has violated the statute by using the database of Employer illegally. Uniform Trade Secrets Act(UTSA)defines improproper means which includes theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage through electronic or other means.Here Alice has breach improper means, misappropriation and trade secrets mentioned in the act. These three tools are sufficient to sue against Alice. Section 2 os USTA provides injustice relief, section 3 provides damages, section 4 provides attorney fees and section 5 provides preservation of secrecy.