Is Use of Former Employer’s Client Information from Memory a Violation of Trade Secrets Act?
Al Minor & Associates, Inc. v. Robert E. Martin, Case nos. 2006-2340 and 2007-0121 10th District Court of Appeals (Franklin County) ISSUE: In the absence of a no-compete agreement between an employer and its former employee, does the employee’s compilation from memory and competitive use of a list of his former employer’s customers constitute a violation of Ohio’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act? BACKGROUND: From 1998 until 2003, Robert Martin of Columbus was employed as a pension analyst by Al Minor & Associates, a company providing third-party pension administration services to client companies. During the period of his employment, Martin was an at-will employee and there was no non-compete or trade secrets agreement in effect between Martin and the Minor firm. In January 2003, Martin resigned his position with Minor. Shortly thereafter he opened his own pension analyst business and began soliciting clients, including a number of companies that he recalled from memory as being current or f
