–Two ex-employees, including a former Plant Manager in Algona, have been named in a lawsuit filed by Hormel Foods against a Wisconsin based company who allegedly tried to steal trade secrets.
Multiple media outlets in Minnesota and Wisconsin have reported on the lawsuit, which was filed in Minnesota District Court on June 18th.
The complaint alleges that the Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin-based Johnsonville undertook a coordinated effort to interfere with Hormel’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information when it hired former Hormel employees to disseminate company material.
The lawsuit claims that Johnsonville hired former Hormel Director of Operations Brett Sims in 2023 to be their Chief Supply Chain Officer, and that Sims began soliciting several Hormel employees in management positions to resign and join Johnsonville.
The suit alleges that Sims solicited former Algona Plant Manager Jeremy Rummel to share information related to Hormel’s product formulas, processing procedures, acquisition targets, and marketing strategies.
Hormel, which is based in Austin, Minnesota contends that Rummel accepted a job offer to work with Johnsonville and then began to forward company information to a personal email account with the purpose of sharing those files.
Hormel is seeking a judgement that will award damages from the breached agreements with its former employees, as well as a requirement that all disclosed trade secret information be retrieved, returned and/or destroyed.
Johnsonville has not released a statement on the lawsuit.
More on the lawsuit can be found in the links below:
www.fox9.com/news/sausage-secret-border-battle-hormel-sues-johnsonville-june-20
