Earlier this month, Starbucks Corp. filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to seek enforcement of a noncompetition agreement it entered into with former Division Senior Vice President Paul Twohig.
According to Starbucks, Twohig purportedly had accepted a position with Dunkin’ Donuts as its Brand Operations Officer, which would have been in violation of the non-competition agreement he entered into with Starbucks.
On Friday, October 23, 2009, Starbucks announced that it had resolved its dispute with Twohig. The settlement agreement included promises by Twohig that he would complete initial training at Dunkin’ Donuts, but would not otherwise work there until January 15, 2010, approximately ten months after Twohig left Starbucks’ employ.
In addition, Starbucks is to receive $500,000 as part of the settlement. Starbucks has not reported who will be responsible for this payment.
The case was Starbucks Corp. v. Paul Twohig, case number 09-01404, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.