Thai Union Frozen Products Plc (TUF) and two of its units have been ordered to pay a US food company $4.5 million plus legal fees in a trade-secrets case. Contessa Premium Foods Inc sued two of its former employees and TUF for trade-secret theft in California state court in Los Angeles in February 2006.
Globally, TUF's tuna-canning business is second in size only to that of San Francisco-based Del Monte Foods Co.
The court found that Bryan Rosenberg, TUF's former managing director of sales, and Brenden Beck, the former regional sales manager for retail for TUF, used Contessa sales calls to sell frozen food products made by competing companies.
They were also accused of using Contessa resources to develop design, products, promotional materials, marketing strategies and sales presentations for competitors.
TUF ''aided and abetted the misappropriation of Contessa's trade secrets'' by the two executives, said court papers.
The jury verdict, handed down in Los Angeles on Sept 26, included $200,000 in punitive damages relating to Mr Rosenberg's conduct, and $1.5 million in punitive damages that TUF must pay. Jurors also awarded Contessa $2,788,183 in actual damages.
