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(AMM) AK accuses 3 ex-workers of stealing trade secrets (UPDATE)

March 15, 2010 - 21:05 GMT Location: PITTSBURGH

KEYWORDS: AK Steel , lawsuit , Rockport , ThyssenKrupp Steel USA

AK Steel Corp. has filed a lawsuit against three former employees of its Rockport (Ind.) Works, alleging that they stole trade secrets on their way to new jobs with the start-up mill of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA LLC.

West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel is seeking injunctive relief and damages from former employees Donald Earley, Dona Ashby and Jonathan Salisbury. The suit filed in the Butler County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas accuses them of "flagrant violations of their contractual and other legal obligations to AK Steel," including breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

The lawsuit says that all three resigned their posts at AK Steel to accept new positions with ThyssenKrupp Steel USA, a direct competitor of AK that is building a new mill in Calvert, Ala. The suit alleges that Earley, days before his resignation in June 2009, "accessed confidential information and trade secrets on AK Steel's computer systems and sent numerous files to a personal e-mail address."

After beginning work with ThyssenKrupp Steel, the suit claims that Earley began contacting Ashby and Salisbury, who...

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