Motorola Sues Former Executive Over iPhone Job at Apple

Shakil published 20 Jul 2008, 14:55 in main - 254 views

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Motorola sued a former executive for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement by taking a job as head of global iPhone sales for Apple and helping Apple hire two other former Motorola employees.

The suit was filed Thursday in an Illinois circuit court in Cook County against Mike Fenger, who quit Motorola in March as senior vice president of mobile devices for Europe, Middle East and Africa to join Apple.

The suit alleges that Fenger accepted "millions of dollars in cash, restricted stock units, and stock options" in exchange for agreeing not to join a competitor for two years after leaving Motorola. "In his new position he cannot perform his duties for Apple without inevitably disclosing Motorola's trade secrets," the lawsuit states.

Fenger, who now serves as vice president of global iPhone sales, also hired away two high-level Motorola employees who have access to Motorola's trade secrets and customer relationships. The suit didn't name the two employees he allegedly helped Apple recruit.

Motorola asked the Cook County court to stop Fenger from working for Apple for two years and to bar him from soliciting or hiring Motorola employees or disclosing Motorola's confidential information. It also demanded damages and repayment of stock options given to him in exchange for signing the non-compete agreement.

Among the high-ranking executives who moved to rivals are former Chief Technical Officer Padmasree Warrior, who in December joined Cisco, Motorola's main rival in the cable set-top box business. Motorola also sued an ex-manager who went to work with former mobile device chief Ron Garriques at Dell.