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Lawsuit: Ex-Roehl Transport Employee Stole Trucking Secrets

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A former Roehl Transport fleet operations manager is facing a civil lawsuit alleging that he delivered confidential information about his old company to his new employer — and Roehl’s competitor — Omni Specialized.

Ex-Roehl President Becomes Omni President

According to the suit, former Roehl president Thomas Witt worked as a consultant for a company that would later become Omni without Roehl’s knowledge or approval while he was still employed by them. With help from others, Witt purchased the company that would become Omni. Witt then became president of Omni.

Omni President Poached Employee And Encouraged Data Theft, Says Suit

After being named president of Omni, Witt allegedly recruited Adam Stein, who had served as fleet operations manager from 2012 until 2016. As fleet operations manager, Stein had access to confidential information on the company’s 2,000 truck drivers. This information included truck driver performance data, attrition rates, the most cost-effective routes, and the company’s revenue information.

In August 2016 Stein decided to leave Roehl for Omni. According to the suit, Witt asked Stein to take confidential information before he left. The lawsuit alleges that Stein emailed around 1000 pages worth of confidential data from his work account to a personal account the day before he left Roehl.

Roehl Says Secret Theft Allowed Omni To Steal The Best Drivers

According to the lawsuit, “Stein surreptitiously compiled a treasure trove of confidential information and trade secrets which he was able to access by virtue of his role as Fleet Operations Manager.” The suit alleges that the stolen data gave Omni access to information that Roehl took 50 years to compile and that it allowed Omni to poach the best truck drivers.

The suit alleges that Stein and Omni are in “Violation of [the] Defend Trade Secrets Act” and seeks unspecified damages for the loss of the trade secrets.

 Sources:
The Marshfield News Herald

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