Michael David Mitchell
| Michael David Mitchell | Corporate Thief | | | |
DuPont is an American chemical company headquartered out of Wilmington, Delaware. “DuPont provides a wide range of products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel. One such product is Kevlar®, which is DuPont 's registered trademark for a very light, very strong synthetic fiber that is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such, or as an ingredient in composite material components. Kevlar® belongs to a class of synthetic polymer fibers known as aramids…highly resistant to heat, and has a strength-to-weight ratio that is approximately five times stronger than steel.” (VIRGINIA) The production procedure of these items are considered trade secrets, and requires all employees involved with the selling or production of such items to sign non-disclosure agreements.
An issue came about when DuPont fired one of its long-time employees, Michael David Mitchell, for performance reasons in February of 2006. Mitchell worked as an engineer and salesperson at DuPont 's Richmond-based Spruance Plant for over twenty-five years. His main area of specialization had to do with Nomex®, another DuPont aramid fiber product, but his final position at DuPont involved the sales and marketing of Kevlar®. Once being let go, Mitchell as per the conditions of the non-disclosure agreement was not to retain any propriety information concerning DuPont. Nonetheless Mitchell still retained numerous DuPont computer files containing sensitive proprietary information on his home computer, his laptop computer and several CDs obtained during his employment.
Weeks after being fired Mitchell meet up with a U.S. based Kolon Industries, Inc. , a Korean company that makes a product named Heracron® that competes in the market with DuPont 's Kevlar®. About a year later he was hired as a consultant
DuPont is an American chemical company headquartered out of Wilmington, Delaware. “DuPont provides a wide range of products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel. One such product is Kevlar®, which is DuPont 's registered trademark for a very light, very strong synthetic fiber that is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such, or as an ingredient in composite material components. Kevlar® belongs to a class of synthetic polymer fibers known as aramids…highly resistant to heat, and has a strength-to-weight ratio that is approximately five times stronger than steel.” (VIRGINIA) The production procedure of these items are considered trade secrets, and requires all employees involved with the selling or production of such items to sign non-disclosure agreements.
An issue came about when DuPont fired one of its long-time employees, Michael David Mitchell, for performance reasons in February of 2006. Mitchell worked as an engineer and salesperson at DuPont 's Richmond-based Spruance Plant for over twenty-five years. His main area of specialization had to do with Nomex®, another DuPont aramid fiber product, but his final position at DuPont involved the sales and marketing of Kevlar®. Once being let go, Mitchell as per the conditions of the non-disclosure agreement was not to retain any propriety information concerning DuPont. Nonetheless Mitchell still retained numerous DuPont computer files containing sensitive proprietary information on his home computer, his laptop computer and several CDs obtained during his employment.
Weeks after being fired Mitchell meet up with a U.S. based Kolon Industries, Inc. , a Korean company that makes a product named Heracron® that competes in the market with DuPont 's Kevlar®. About a year later he was hired as a consultant
Cited: Daker, S. (n.d.). Former DuPont Employee Sentenced In Trade-Theft Case. Retrieved from First Enercast Financial: http://www.firstenercastfinancial.com/news/?cont=36263 Green, F. (n.d.). DuPont employee sentenced in industrial espionage case. Retrieved from Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/mar/18/dupont_employee_sentenced_in_industrial_espionage_-ar-9496/ Sidley Austin, LLP. (n.d.). Sidley Austin LLP. Retrieved from Update of notable cases and events: http://www.sidley.com/sidleyupdates/Detail.aspx?news=4916 Office, U. S. (n.d.). United States Department of Justice Press Release. Retrieved from U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security: http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2010/doj03182010.htm Staff, J. R.-D. (n.d.). DuPont awarded $920 million in trade secrets case. Retrieved from Mixrva: http://www2.mixrva.com/business/2011/sep/15/tdmain01-dupont-awarded-920-million-ar-1310559/ VIRGINIA, U. S. (n.d.). Case 3:09-cr-00425-JRS Document 8. Retrieved from Michael David Mitchell Statement of Facts: http://www.tradesecretsnoncompetelaw.com/uploads/file/Mitchell%20Agreed.pdf