HOUSTON, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A Houston state district court jury rejected a multi-million-dollar trade secrets lawsuit by National Oilwell Varco and cleared four former employees and their current employer, A&B Valve and Piping Systems, LP, after a four-week-trial.
The jury found Wednesday that A&B and the employees -- Connie Dobson, Martin Willmore, Tara Kolar and Lina Urbanek -- did not use trade secrets, violate any fiduciary duty to NOV, misappropriate trade secrets, or breach contracts or nondisclosure agreements when they left the company for better paying jobs at A&B, a competing oilfield supply company, in October 2006. A&B was cleared of tortiously interfering with NOV's nondisclosure agreements.
A&B and its employees are represented by attorneys Joe Ahmad and John Zavitsanos of Ahmad Zavitsanos & Anaipakos, P.C., in Houston; Paul Aronowitz; Boris Hidalgo and Mano DeAyala of Thompson & Knight LLP, in Houston; and Tom Wright, Harvey Brown, Russ Hollenbeck, and Brad Snead of Wright, Brown & Close, LLP, in Houston.
NOV filed the suit in December 2006, seeking multi-million-dollar damages, including attorneys' fees, punitive damages, and an injunction to prohibit A&B Valve and the employees from competing against NOV with more than 90 companies. NOV further sought to have the former employees forfeit salaries they had earned since joining A&B.
Mr. Ahmad stated, "Had A&B not prevailed, the rights of 'at-will' employees in Texas would have been endangered by this lawsuit. In effect, NOV was attempting to convert a standard nondisclosure agreement into a lifetime noncompetition agreement with no geographic limitations. Ironically, under Texas law, an actual noncompetition agreement must be limited both as to time and geographic scope in order to be enforceable."
A&B successfully argued that the information claimed by NOV to be confidential was in the public domain. In A&B's view, the case was of great importance, not only for the continued viability of A&B, but also because of the novel and aggressive position taken regarding the types of information that would be trade secrets under Texas law.
Mr. Aronowitz stated, "This lawsuit apparently was intended to chill the hot labor market for experienced sales personnel in the brimming oil field supply business. It seems to have been intended as a shot across the bow of any competitor who would try to hire their employees. The winners here are not only our clients, but also other oilfield service company employees who can seek better employment without fearing frivolous and potentially crushing lawsuits."
NOV is represented by J.D. Page; Elliot Tucker and Roy Barnes, of Tucker, Vaughan, Gardner & Barnes, P.C. in Houston; and Don Jackson and Eileen O'Neill of Ware, Jackson, Lee & Chambers, L.L.P. in Houston.
The case is "National Oilwell Varco, L.P. v. A&B Bolt & Supply, Inc. a/k/a A&B Valve and Piping Systems; et al," (Cause No. 2006-79749, in the 113th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas).
Attorney Contact: John Zavitsanos, Ahmad Zavitsanos & Anaipakos, P.C., 713-655-1101.
Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Ahmad Zavitsanos & Anaipakos, P.C., 281-362-1411 or 281-703-6000.
