A former Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope™ (OBE) employee has filed an answer to the company’s complaint regarding the disclosure of trade secrets, denying all allegations and claiming the company has defamed him.
Jon Todd Staley, a former Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope™ (OBE) employee against whom the company filed suit earlier this year for allegedly disclosing trade secrets has filed an answer to the company’s complaint, denying all allegations made against him and claiming the company has defamed him, seeking damages of USD one million.
Staley, of Rockwall County, Texas, is accused of “misappropriate[ing] confidential and proprietary information” while working at OBE. He claims, however, that his main area of work at OBE focused on being a “leader, mentor and facilitator, and was not otherwise technical that would cause him to be privy to confidential and proprietary information.”
“Had [OBE] conducted a thorough investigation, it would have been able to specifically and articulately designate documents it claimed were confidential and proprietary and/or trade secrets,” writes Staley’s counsel. “It could not.”
Staley alleges that through the suit, “[OBE] has damaged [his] reputation among his peers in the trade and in his community with mean-spirited and unfounded accusations that he is a thief, misappropriated Oldcastle’s documents, committed computer fraud under federal law, and other types of defalcation.”
The counterclaim further alleges that statements made by OBE in the suit have been libellous “because they had a tendency to injure [Staley] in his profession,” and that the alleged defamatory statements were made “in bad faith and with malice.”
“Moreover, [OBE’s] statements were entirely false and had no basis in truth or fact,” writes Staley’s counsel. “[Staley] has been highly professional and honest while performing his duties for counter-defendant.”