Wesco has accused electrical distributor Eckart of luring away company executives and improperly using its trade secrets in a lawsuit filed earlier this month.
The dispute between the companies, tED magazine reported, stemmed from Wesco’s acquisition of Atlanta Electrical Distributors a decade ago.
In the complaint, Wesco alleged that AED’s previous owners, Kevin Kester and Kevin Black, began talking with Indiana-based Eckart about expanding in the Atlanta area — and directly competing with Wesco’s newly added business — while still employed by Wesco.
The lawsuit also alleged that Kester and Black lured two managers and two sales reps — also named as defendants — from Wesco and AED to Eckart in a bid to create what Wesco attorneys described as “AED 2.0.” Ultimately, more than 30 former AED and Wesco workers departed for Eckart, the complaint stated.
"Kester and Kevin Black,” Wesco attorneys wrote, “profited substantially from the sale of AED to Wesco in 2016” and “sought to replicate that success by helping Eckart break into the electrical distribution market in Georgia and then profiting from an eventual sale of Eckart or, at least, its Georgia segment.”
In addition to luring away its staff, Wesco accused the defendants of misappropriating its trade secrets, interfering with its customer and supplier relationships, breaching “restrictive covenants” and other violations. The company is seeking unspecified damages and related expenses.
Eckart and the named defendants, tED reported, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit the following week that, in part, said Wesco's complaint "merely alleges a traditional employer-employee relationship." The company has not commented on the matter.
