Alabama trucking co. and employees face trade secrets scheme lawsuit

An Alabama trucking company and a pair of former employees face a lawsuit filed by a logistics company accusing them of stealing company information.

On August 31, 2026, Imperative Logistics LLC and DTH Expeditors, LLC filed a suit against Alabama Motor Express, LLC (AMX), Joseph Cochran, and Mary Evette Jones in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of scheming to steal trade secrets from Imperative Logistics.

According to the suit, Cochran and Jones were “long-tenured” Imperative Logistics employees with access to “the Company’s most sensitive trade secrets and confidential business information, including customer lists, pricing and rate structures and data, shipment data, standard operating procedures, and other confidential information.”

Both Cochran and Jones had signed a Restrictive Covenant Agreement (RCA) prohibiting them from stealing or misappropriating trade secrets and also from soliciting clients after the termination of employment, Imperative Logistics said.

Between February and April 2026, both Cochran and Jones allegedly resigned from Imperative Logistics and “immediately” began working for AMX, which is described as a direct competitor in the freight logistics and expedited freight forwarding industry.

Cochran and Jones are accused of using computers and electronic devices to steal Imperative’s trade secrets and transfer them to AMX.

The lawsuit further alleges that AMX was liable for the misconduct and that it “facilitated, and benefited from this coordinated scheme with full knowledge of the Individual Defendants’ contractual obligations to Imperative.”

Imperative accuses Cochran of causing declining revenues by “actively pursuing and bidding against Imperative” on a longstanding client account he was familiar with from his time at Imperative.

Jones is accused of accessing Imperative’s confidential Google Drive databases and systems two months after her employment with the company ended in order to gain access to documents related to the longstanding client Cochran was reportedly pursuing.

Imperative Logistics also pointed to a “broader pattern in which five employees from the same Imperative office left in rapid succession to join AMX” and said that “these departures were not coincidental but were part of a coordinated effort facilitated and encouraged by AMX to strip Imperative of key personnel and to gain access to Imperative’s trade secrets, confidential information, and customer relationships.”

The lawsuit seeks a restraining order forbidding Cochran and Jones from disclosing trade secrets and forbidding the pursuit of Imperative’s clients or employees in violation of the RCAs, as well as compensatory damages, exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees.