On March 16, Tiffany & Co.’s attorneys fired back at Cartier’s assertion that Tiffany conspired with a former employee to steal Cartier’s “trade secrets,” arguing that it’s given Cartier all it asked for, and Cartier just filed the case for publicity.
In a motion to dismiss filed in New York State Supreme Court, Tiffany’s attorneys asserted that the case presents a “truly bizarre circumstance,” charging that Cartier filed the suit for “maximum publicity value” for its “competitively fading brand.”
The case revolves around a former Cartier employee who joined Tiffany’s high jewelry department but was later terminated. According to the employee’s affidavit, she emailed confidential Cartier information to herself and then later sent it to Tiffany executives. The ex-employee alleged that Tiffany managers repeatedly asked her for information about Cartier.
But Tiffany argued that Cartier waited too long to file this suit, rendering the case “moot.”
“Cartier has shown it has no genuine concern about any documents at all,” it said. “Indeed, Cartier waited weeks to seek any relief.”
It further argued that “Cartier has already received, but refuses to accept, all the relief it could possibly be entitled to…. [Tiffany] immediately informed Cartier of the efforts Tiffany had already taken, and was continuing to take, to isolate and secure the information that Cartier pretends to be so concerned about.… Tiffany’s information technology security department had long since identified the documents Cartier alleges [the ex-employee] stole, and removed the suspect materials from access by any businessperson at Tiffany.”
It added there was no evidence anyone at Tiffany requested the information. And it derided Cartier’s definition of the allegedly pilfered papers as “trade secrets,” noting the documents appear to have been readily accessible.
Talks around a settlement broke down, the motion said, when Cartier wanted to conduct “wide-ranging searches for any undefined ‘confidential’ information about Cartier at Tiffany.”
Finally, it argued that the employee in question has submitted two, somewhat contradictory, affidavits and is now also being sued by Cartier.
The suit asks for Cartier’s claims and request for injunctive relief to be dismissed.
Cartier did not respond to a request for comment from JCK by publication time.
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