Tim Cook slurped our brains, snarl fat battery bods A123 Battery manufacturer A123 Systems, specialists in large-scale battery tech for vehicles and power grids, has slung a sueball at Apple for allegedly poaching its engineers. The case concerns five former employees of A123 currently employed by Apple, according to a court filing released on Tuesday. While employed by A123, the …
"Poaching its engineers"? So these people are serfs belonging to A123 Systems? Funny how staff are an unwanted liability one moment, and valuable corporate property the next.
Let's look at things another way - "In 2012, A123 Systems announced that it was filing for bankruptcy". No, I can't possibly imagine why anyone would want to leave A123 Systems and go work for one of the world's most profitable and successful companies.
I once lived in a small town which had a major employer whose production process was steadily poisoning its employees. There wasn't a lot of alternative employment without leaving the area. A new factory opened up and workers quit the other employer in droves and took a pay cut to work for the new one in order to work in a healthier environment. The first company took the legal route, filing outright lies in court to get an injunction preventing this sort of "poaching". It's funny how our corporate masters are so keen on the free market when it comes to things which might limit their ability to make money, but go running crying to the government for protection when their employees try to take advantage of that free market for themselves.
Well, trade secrets are still a thing.
This is the secret sauce that makes your product more competitive than anyone elses. If it is valuable enough, you keep it entirely to yourself rather than making it public and sharing it with the world (like what a patent is supposed to be).
In that case, any lawsuit should be about "trade secrets". But there is a point... they filed bankruptcy and I would imagine that they let go of staff. If you're an engineer, R&D type, etc., where else are you going to find work except at a competitor? I'm sure if it were the other way around A123 wouldn't be upset at all.
They filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had no layoffs. The bankruptcy was due to the failure of Fiskar cars which used custom A123 battery sets. The people Apple hired signed very specific non-disclosure and trade secrets documents. Apple promised to pick up anyt legal bills (which is illegal) in hiring them. This is very typically Apple which has been in and out of trouble with the SEC, regulators, and anyone else who finds their predatory money-madness obnoxious.
This is the secret sauce that makes your product more competitive than anyone elses.
Here is a free-market idea: If that idea is so valuable, then the NDA should be accompanied with a payout to keep the engineer's mouth sealed (may have to be done through a bank account to be liberated in 10y time). Not with a threat to sue. Might work better.
So your saying that a "bribe" must be offered to the employee so that they actually stick to what they agree to?
I'm sure there's a name for something like that, mmmmm, extortion maybe? Might you be advocating more illegal acts to stop another illegal act?
Not saying the poaching thing is right, or that they have given the "secrets" away. But advocating extortion is not a free market idea.
I am retired now but worked on high technology all my life this is another example of big corporations trying to have slave engineers. Engineers always change jobs periodically to enhance their knowledge and salaries.
High technology is getting periodic assaults by government like the new regulations to the internet and corporations wanting slave engineers.
NOTHING NEW!!!!!
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