One longtime Chattanooga printing company has sued another, alleging that two of its employees were recruited away and took trade secrets with them.
Jones Printing is suing Adams Lithographing and former Jones employees Christopher Wood and Karen Speights in Federal Court.
Jones Printing is a Georgia corporation, though it is located on Crutchfield Street in Chattanooga. Adams is a Tennessee corporation and is located on Chapman Road.
The 26-page complaint, which seeks compensatory damages, says Mr. Wood and Ms. Speights violated confidentiality agreements in recently leaving the firm and moving to its longtime rival.
Mr. Jones departed on Aug. 12 and Ms. Speights on Oct. 17. She had been at Jones for 18 years.
The suit said both key Jones employees had extensive knowledge of the Jones customer list, operation procedures and pricing.
It says Mr. Wood was manager of customer service and scheduler and had intimate knowledge of the customer base and the business operation.
The suit said it was found that Ms. Speights had copied a number of Jones documents from 5 to 11 p.m. on the day she resigned and more the next day.
It also says that Ms. Speights had been working on a project with the Balta firm of Dalton that was later moved to Adams.
A Jones employee said he was told by Ms. Speights that Adams had some openings. He said he was interviewed at Adams and was told that Adams was going to increase its business by 15 percent due to Ms. Speights.
The suit was filed by attorney Jonathan Rubin of Washington, D.C., and attorneys Michael Wall and J. Gerard Stranch IV of Nashville.