On Friday the Clarion-Ledger reported that Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger stayed Eaton Corp. v. Frisby Aerospace pending a determination of whether former Eaton lawyer Ed Peters improperly influenced Judge DeLaughter when he had the case. Eaton is the plaintiff and alleges that former Eaton employees stole $1 billion in trade secrets and gave them to Frisby. If there is a bigger case pending in Hinds County I do not know what it is.
Frisby is represented by Jackson attorney Allen Perry. According to the Ledger:
Perry argued Wednesday that Frisby has been put through “a lot of stuff because of what Peters and DeLaughter did to us.”
“We know there was improper communications and he has admitted that fact,” Perry said in court. “We have been done wrong and we are asking for justice.”
Eaton attorney Reuben Anderson countered that Eaton is the real victim as the victim of the trade secrets theft.
My initial reaction upon reading the article and Perry’s quotes was that Frisby is full of it and the case should not be stayed. Upon further analysis, I changed my mind and agree with Judge Yerger’s decision. It is prudent for Judge Yerger to stay the case until more of the Peters-DeLaughter facts are known. But unless more allegations surface that are directly related to this case, Frisby is probably going to have to defend the case on the merits. Otherwise, Judge Yerger probably would have already dismissed the case.