A California superior court jury has found Thai Union liable in connection with a scheme to steal trade secrets and compete unfairly with Contessa in the sale of frozen food products in the US.
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Thai Union, made up of Empress International and Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, was a defendant in the case, along with Bryan Rosenberg and Brenden Beck (former employees of Contessa Premium Foods), who were also found liable.
On 25 September, frozen food manufacturer Contessa was awarded damages of around US$2.8m. The following day, the jury awarded punitive damages against Thai Union for another $1.5m and against Rosenberg for another $200,000, making the total damages awarded to Contessa $4.5m.
The case of Contessa Premium Foods v. Bryan Rosenberg et al. began in 2005 when, without Contessa’s knowledge, Thai Union began interviewing several key Contessa sales executives.
The jury found that Thai Union ultimately “conspired” with two of the highest-ranking sales executives, Rosenberg and Beck, to misappropriate Contessa’s valuable trade secrets, defraud Contessa and take Contessa’s existing as well as anticipated customers.
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By GlobalDataThe jury also found that Rosenberg and Beck breached their fiduciary duty while employed by Contessa and did so with “malice, oppression or fraud”.
“This is a complete vindication for Contessa, our employees and, most importantly, our customers who supported us through all of this,” said Gregory Morrow, vice president and chief legal officer for Contessa Premium Foods. “The jury’s verdict upholds Contessa’s exclusive right to its very valuable trade secrets and sends an undeniable message that the fraud and obvious wrongdoing on the part of defendants in this case will never be tolerated.”
In the wake of the ruling, a statement from the defendants read: “We are proud of our long history of integrity, sound business ethics and professionalism. Because this matter is still pending before the court, we cannot comment further at this time. Going forward, we’ll continue to service our customers in the manner they’ve always expected and received from us.”
