Jennifer Lawson Case Summary

Jennifer Lawson [hereby referred to as The Defendant] is a former employee of Greene’s Jewelry Wholesale, LLC [hereby referred to as The Company] located in Derry, New Hampshire.
The Defendant was terminated from the position of junior executive secretary at The Company upon the decision by The Company to downsize. The Defendant acquired confidential information upon her departure regarding the process for creating Ever-Gold; a patented process which is fundamental to The Company’s success. Shortly after, The Defendant became an employee for a competitor of The Company, Howell Jewelry World [hereby referred to as Howell]; where she willingly released unknown documents and trademark secrets. The Defendant was required to sign a confidentiality agreement which The Company claims has been violated.
The Defendant, in turn, has filed a countersuit against The Company on the grounds of wrongful termination. Information about the termination was given to The Defendant after she reported that she would be requiring additional time off due to high-risk factors related to her
This, in turn, resulted in the termination of The Defendant. All junior executive secretaries are not required to sign a covenant not to compete but are required to sign a confidentiality agreement which states that they will not disclose any information acquired about the creation process of Ever-Gold, The Company’s patented primary asset. The Defendant inadvertently acquired confidential documents about the Ever-Gold process upon her termination but then knowingly disclosed this information to Howell in order to gain employment. Howell has, in turn, created a similar product that does not infringe upon The Company’s patent. As a result, The Defendant has violated the confidentiality agreement as well as the New Hampshire Uniform Trade Secrets