As first reported in a C&M Trade Secrets Blog Post last week, IBM filed a lawsuit in New York federal district court in early February against Microsoft’s newly hired diversity executive, Lindsay-Rae McIntyre. Ms. McIntyre had been at IBM more than 20 years, finishing her employment as its Chief Diversity Officer. She also signed a one-year non-compete and non-solicit agreement set to expire on January 29, 2019.
When Ms. McIntyre left IBM to join Microsoft, IBM filed the lawsuit and sought an order to prevent her from working at Microsoft until January 29, 2019. IBM argued that “it is inevitable” that McIntyre would use IBM’s confidential information and trade secrets to further Microsoft’s diversity practices. IBM further argued that McIntyre can work virtually anywhere except a direct competitor of IBM, so her move to Microsoft was “especially serious, and unnecessary.”
On February 12, 2018, the U.S. District Court granted IBM’s request to restrain Ms. McIntyre temporarily from commencing employment with Microsoft, setting a hearing date of March 12 to determine whether that restriction would become permanent through January 29, 2019 based on the non‑compete agreement.
However, on March 5, one week before the hearing on the preliminary injunction hearing, the parties filed a notice to the court that they had settled the case. No settlement details were immediately made public or provided to the court.