A federal judge dismissed National Fish & Seafood’s (NFS) trade secrets case against Tampa Bay Fisheries, its parent company Red Chamber, and former employee Kathleen Scanlon, after the companies agreed to resolve the lawsuit.
Pacific Andes-owned NFS and Tampa Bay “jointly announce that they have satisfactorily resolved the lawsuit brought by NFS against Tampa Bay, Kathleen Scanlon, Red Chamber Co., and certain individuals affiliated with Tampa Bay,” the companies said in a statement provided to SeafoodSource.
As a result of the confidential settlement, all claims will be dismissed, NFS and Tampa Bay said.
“We are pleased to have reached this settlement,” said Todd Provost, president of NFS.
“Tampa Bay is also pleased to have concluded the litigation,” added Danny Woodson, vice president of procurement for Tampa Bay.
Neither company provided further comment.
In the contentious trade secrets lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts last July, NFS claimed that Kathleen Scanlon, its former head of research, development, and quality assurance, “unlawfully acquired NFS’ confidential information and trade secrets” involving its proprietary Matlaw’s clam production process.
NFS alleged that Scanlon stole the trade secrets before she resigned from NFS and accepted a job at Tampa Bay. Both Scanlon and Tampa Bay denied the charges.
On 8 March, NFS and Tampa Bay requested a voluntary dismissal of the case, and Judge Leo T. Sorokin granted the dismissal the same day.
