Lawsuit dismissed against man accused of stealing company info from former employer

Litigation has been dismissed against a Lake County man sued by his former employer for allegedly stealing secret company information and then using it to secure a similar job elsewhere.

On Dec. 10, 2014, U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah signed off on the dismissal of the case involving Massachusetts-based Charles River Laboratories Inc. and defendant Nadeem Beg, after he said the parties reached an agreement to end the court fight.

In February 2014, Charles River had sued Beg in Chicago's federal court, alleging Beg violated state and federal law, as well as the terms of his contract, by taking company information when he left to take a job with one of Charles River’s competitors.

Charles River also named that competitor --Huntingdon Life Sciences, a British company with a U.S. headquarters New Jersey -- as a defendant in its complaint, claiming  Huntingdon engaged in “tortious interference” in its business and relationship with Beg.

Represented by Chicago attorney Peter R. Bulmer of Jackson Lewis P.C. and Conrad S. Kee in Stamford, Conn., the company's suit came a few weeks after Beg resigned from Charles River to take a business development manager position with Huntingdon.

Beg had been employed by Charles River since 1997 selling “endotoxin testing” to clients.

Charles River, which operates facilities and offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia, described itself as a provider of “a variety of products and services … to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts.”

After Beg resigned on Jan. 3, 2014, Charles River asserted it reviewed his company-issued computer and discovered he had downloaded a large amount of information considered to be confidential and proprietary, including spreadsheets containing client contact information, sales reports, sales opportunities, reports on research projects and studies and proposals.

After learning of the alleged breaches, Charles River asserted in its suit it sent letters to Beg and Huntingdon, stating its objections to Beg’s alleged behavior and his employment with Huntingdon. Charles River claims Beg has not responded to any of its letters.

In its suit, Charles River asked the federal court to issue an injunction preventing Beg from not only disclosing any further information to Huntingdon, but from continuing to work for its competitor.

Its suit included one count against Huntingdon for tortious interference and five counts against Beg for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties and violations of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act, Stored Communications Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

In the order dismissing the case, Darrah noted the dismissal was contingent on various stipulations governing contact involving Beg and his current and former employers through early 2015.