As with most industries, it is not uncommon to see a golf product engineer working for company X one year followed by company Y the next year. In fact, many employees view job jumping as the method to get the pay raise that they deserve.

Undoubtedly, these engineers know a lot of confidential information about company X, particularly information regarding products under development and other research and development programs. While company Y may be extremely excited about the opportunity to have an experienced industry insider join their team, they must keep in mind that with experience comes baggage, and precautions must be taken to avoid legal issues.

Just consider the fact that a former Coca-Cola secretary was just sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets from Coke to sell them to rival Pepsi. Not only was she sentenced to eight years of imprisonment but it is followed by three years of supervised release, and she was ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution. Not to mention that it is going to be rather difficult for her to ever get another job.

The executives at Pepsi should be congratulated on the manner in which they handled the situation. Upon receipt of a letter from a person claiming to be a high-level employee of Coke, executives at Pepsi turned the letter over to Coke. The FBI then got involved and started an undercover investigation.

Atlanta-based U.S. Attorney David Nahmaias said "this case is an example of good corporate citizenship leading to a successful prosecution." Nahmaias added that "unlawfully gaining a competitive advantage by stealing another's trade secrets can lead straight to federal prison."
 
Further, extreme care should be taken when a company hires an employee from a competitor and that employee is likely to have knowledge of the trade secrets of the competitor. Watch out. Check out this post for a real life example from the golf industry. Do you think Nike would have made the hire if they had known they would find themselves right in the middle of a trade secret lawsuit?

Dave Dawsey - Looking Out for the Golf Industry