A leader in the science of converting biomass to energy, Atlanta-based SilvaGas Corporation, then FERCO Enterprises, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in 2005 after former employee Mark Paisley left and joined Taylor Recycling/Taylor Biomass LLC.
In the complaint, FERCO alleged not only that the defendants misappropriated its trade secrets, but also that Paisley breached his fiduciary duty to FERCO by surreptitiously working for Taylor while still employed at FERCO.
It is FERCO’s opinion that Paisley took FERCO’s trade secrets with him and used them to create a biomass gasification system similar to FERCO’s within weeks of his resignation from FERCO.
U.S. District Court Judge Orinda Evans recently ruled in favor of FERCO on two of three motions in the case. Due to the defendants’ frivolous discovery conduct, Judge Evans ordered the defendants to pay sanctions to FERCO. In addition, she ruled that the defendants’ counterclaims against FERCO and its primary investor should be dismissed.
