[BreachExchange] Garrett Popcorn alleges former employee stole secret recipes. 'Once it has been shared, there is no way to "undo" the disclosure, ' lawsuit says.

[Destry Winant]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-garrett-popcorn-stolen-recipes-lawsuit-20190422-story.html

Garrett Popcorn Shops says it guards its recipes so closely that only
three employees have access to the information, by verifying their
identity via thumbprint.

On Monday, the company, whose formal name is CaramelCrisp, filed a
federal lawsuit against one of those three people who it says was
terminated in early March, alleging that more than 5,000 files were
wrongfully downloaded in the days before the termination, putting its
secret recipes at risk.

The former employee, Aisha Putnam, served as the director of research
and development for about four years at the Chicago gourmet popcorn
chain, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois. In that role, she had access to some of
Garrett’s highly confidential trade secrets, along with the company’s
CEO and a vice president, the lawsuit states.

The release of Garrett’s secret recipes, formulas and other trade
secrets “would be severely detrimental” to its business and “cause
irreparable harm,” the lawsuit states.

Garrett Popcorn Shops says it guards its recipes so closely that only
three employees have access to the information, by verifying their
identity via thumbprint.

On Monday, the company, whose formal name is CaramelCrisp, filed a
federal lawsuit against one of those three people who it says was
terminated in early March, alleging that more than 5,000 files were
wrongfully downloaded in the days before the termination, putting its
secret recipes at risk.

The former employee, Aisha Putnam, served as the director of research
and development for about four years at the Chicago gourmet popcorn
chain, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois. In that role, she had access to some of
Garrett’s highly confidential trade secrets, along with the company’s
CEO and a vice president, the lawsuit states.

The release of Garrett’s secret recipes, formulas and other trade
secrets “would be severely detrimental” to its business and “cause
irreparable harm,” the lawsuit states.

After Putnam left the company, she signed a document saying she
deleted all the information in her possession protected by one of the
confidentiality agreements, but she refused a forensic review of her
electronic devices, according to the lawsuit. Garrett “reasonably
doubts that Putnam is now suddenly telling the truth about her
actions,” the lawsuit states.

The document Putnam signed said she did not spread the information to
anyone, Asonye said. “We don’t believe that a forensic examination
will do anything or satisfy them,” he said. “We have given a sworn
statement saying that she’s done nothing, she’s got nothing and that
should be enough.”

The company said in the lawsuit that it will continue to suffer harm
until the court enters a restraining order against Putnam that stops
her from using, possessing or benefiting from the trade secrets.

Garrett did not respond to requests for comment. An attorney
representing Garrett declined to comment.