Dive Brief:
- Cargill can not prevent a former executive from its meat-packaging unit from joining rival JBS SA, a federal judge has ruled.
- Minneapolis-based Cargill sought a restraining order to block Jason Kuan, who ran Cargill's "case-ready" meat-packaging operation, from joining a new JBS business in Colorado that does similar work.
- The ruling allows Kuan to start his new job. But a temporary restraining order that forbids him from disclosing trade secrets remains in effect.
Dive Insight:
Although Cargill, like any other business, has a right to prevent the theft of trade secrets, it seemed unlikely that a court would rule that right extended to preventing someone from earning a living.
We'll wait to see what Cargill does next. But as Food Dive suggested when the company first sought to keep Kuan out of JBS, the legal action felt like "the opening salvo in what could turn into an extended legal battle."