Employee Raiding: A Teaching Case on Claims and Remedies

Abstract

Employee raiding scenarios provide a unique opportunity for students examine the intersection of business strategy and the law. This article provides a high-energy teaching case study and teaching note that places students in the role of business decision-makers facing the unforeseen and abrupt departure of three key employees to a competitor. Students are provided primary materials (memos, social media posts, contract terms, and correspondence from customers) containing a limited set of information that strongly implies the departing employees are trying to leverage their former employer’s working relationships and confidential information to help their new employer gain a competitive advantage in the market. This project forces students to grapple with business strategy and legal issues relating to fiduciary duties (duty of loyalty and duty of confidentiality), statutory trade secret claims, breach of non-competition contracts, and claims for tortious interference of business relationships.