Last week Alison Grant wrote in the Plain Dealer about Eaton Corp.’s latest loss. This one was in North Carolina where Frisby sued Eaton in 2011, as discussed here.
The article reports:
Eaton Corp.’s long slog to score a win in its nearly decade-long fight with competitor Frisby Aerospace came up empty this week in North Carolina.
A federal judge in Greensboro, N.C., ordered the dismissal of Eaton’s claim that a team of engineers that left Eaton for Frisby stole trade secrets they used to create designs that mimicked several of Eaton’s state-of-the-art hydraulic parts.
Chief Judge William L. Osteen Jr., for the Middle District of North Carolina, said a state court in Mississippi issued a final ruling three years ago in connection with the basic issues Eaton was asserting in North Carolina — so Eaton had no standing to pursue them again.
The Mississippi ruling was by Hinds County Circuit Court Judge W. Swan Yerger, who issued a bombshell decision in December 2010. Yerger threw out Eaton’s 2004 theft-of-trade-secrets lawsuit against Frisby after deciding that Eaton let one of its outside lawyers secretly try to lobby the initial judge in the case.
My Take:
I smell a motion to recuse Judge Osteen.
Meanwhile, the Hinds County Circuit Court docket for the Mississippi case doesn’t identify any filings in the case since September 12–the day before Eaton CEO Sandy Cutler was scheduled to be deposed in the case.
Interesting. Very interesting.