AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Earlier this month, Justin Clark of Austin, Texas and Leslie Davidson, d/b/a Davidson Direct, of Pacifica, California were sued in the District Court of Travis County, Texas by The Dark Intelligence Group, Inc., of Austin, Texas. The lawsuit involves an alleged business venture involving Justin Clark and Leslie Davidson to market and sell webinars and services to clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
The lawsuit names Justin Clark, Leslie Davidson, d/b/a Davidson Direct, as defendants. Plaintiff The Dark Intelligence Group, Inc. (TDIG), alleges breaches of contract, misappropriation of proprietary information, and tortious interferences with current contractual relationships, among other issues. Plaintiff requests injunctive relief and the award of unspecified damages.
According to the lawsuit, Justin Clark was employed as TDIG’s office manager beginning in 2008 and “TDIG entrusted Clark with additional responsibilities, including participating in some aspects of the DD Webinars and/or audio conference programs. Although Clark did not produce or market those programs, or choose their topics or speakers, Clark did manage some aspects of the process of scheduling, preparing, conducting, and wrapping up events. He also served as the ‘moderator’ of some of the webinars.”
The lawsuit notes that Leslie Davidson, d/b/a Davidson Direct, was also involved in TDIG’s webinar and/or audio conference program during this same time. The lawsuit states, “TDIG retained Davidson as a consultant in the winter of 2008 to assist in the production and promotion of some of the DD Webinars and/or audio conference programs. Davidson was an active consultant to newsletter publishers as a resource for producing audio conferences (later webinars), seminars, and similar events. TDIG met Davidson through the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) in 2008. Prior to being retained by TDIG, Davidson had never, upon information and belief, produced or marketed audio conferences to the medical laboratory and pathology professions. As part of her services to TDIG, Davidson was to have provided knowledge and expertise concerning the execution of audio conferences and webinars. TDIG suspended its webinar/audio conference program in April 2012 due to its poor performance… At that time, TDIG terminated its relationship with Davidson.”
The lawsuit continues, “TDIG terminated its employment relationship with Justin Clark in May 2012. In connection with that termination, Clark, for good and valuable consideration received from TDIG, executed an Employment Severance Agreement (‘the Agreement’)… Pursuant to the Agreement, Clark agreed to, among other things, ‘not use for his own benefit and/or sell, distribute, or disclose to any person or entity any proprietary information, trade secrets or work product owned or developed by [TDIG], including but not limited to vendor lists, business models, and plans.’”
The lawsuit claims that Clark breached this agreement with TDIG, and that Davidson violated her fiduciary duty to TDIG, by collaborating to create a webinar program for clinical laboratory and pathology professionals in direct competition with TDIG. In the lawsuit, TDIG claims it “has recently learned that Clark and Davidson have wrongfully appropriated and used TDIG’s confidential and proprietary information for their own benefit. After his termination, and in violation of his agreement with TDIG, Clark approached many of the individuals, medical laboratories, vendors, and medical laboratory publishers that had established and long-standing business relationships with TDIG to, upon information and belief, develop business ventures with them intended to target the same customers, clients, and medical laboratory professionals that TDIG has served since 1995.”
The lawsuit further states how the defendants allegedly went into business in competition against TDIG; stating, “Upon information and belief, Clark, again in violation of his agreement with TDIG, contacted Davidson to launch a business venture or partnership to produce and deliver an audio conference (later webinar) program aimed specifically at the medical laboratory professionals, pathologists, and lab consultants already served by TDIG. Upon information and belief, Davidson used TDIG’s proprietary knowledge, experience, and contacts in the medical laboratory/pathology profession to enter into this business partnership with Clark, thus violating her fiduciary duty to TDIG by improperly using and sharing TDIG’s trade secrets, business methods, and customers with an outside party, all with the express purpose to compete directly against TDIG, her former consulting client.”
Another allegation of the lawsuit is that defendants Justin Clark and Leslie Davidson, dba Davidson Direct, brazenly placed advertisements for their own PathologyWebinars inside TDIG’s proprietary websites and discussion groups. The lawsuit says the defendants “have placed advertisements for their services and products in TDIG’s products, including its discussion groups for the Executive War College, without TDIG’s permission. TDIG has recently learned, for example, that Clark, acting through his surrogates at his employer, Viewics, has illegally and improperly used TDIG’s proprietary Executive War College Discussion Group on LinkedIn.com to distribute emails to several thousand TDIG customers advertising a webinar produced by Clark and Davidson. Participants in TDIG’s discussion group following the advertisement link placed by Clark’s Viewics surrogates end up at a website operated by Clark and Davidson that advertises webinars in direct competition with TDIG. Defendants placed the advertisement and link without TDIG’s knowledge and consent. Defendants’ actions are in violation of their contractual, common law, and other duties owed to TDIG.”
The lawsuit provides examples of how Clark and Davidson are allegedly, “Using TDIG’s confidential information, Defendants, through their ‘Pathology Blawg’ webinars and ‘PathologyWebinars.com’ webinars (‘PathologyWebinars’) and otherwise, have marketed, and are continuing to market, webinars and audio conferences to TDIG’s customers and clients. Those webinars and audio conferences are deceptively similar to TDIG’s DD Webinars program. Using confidential information improperly gained from TDIG, Defendants have created PathologyWebinars display advertisements and marketing information in the trade dress used by TDIG to look as if it is produced by TDIG, when in fact it is not. Defendants have used, and are continuing to use, TDIG’s lists of speakers, vendors, and lab industry experts to create and market their products, and, on information and belief, have used, and are continuing to use, TDIG’s confidential customer and client lists to solicit potential customers for their products.”
A court hearing will be scheduled to consider the plaintiff’s claims against the defendants, including the request for an injunction.
About The Dark Intelligence Group, Inc.
Established in 1995, TDIG publishes THE DARK REPORT, the leading source of exclusive business intelligence for medical laboratory CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Pathologists and senior industry executives. It is widely-read by leaders in laboratory medicine and diagnostics. THE DARK REPORT produces the famous Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management every spring, which showcases innovations by the nation’s and globe’s leading laboratory organizations.