SMP Automotive Sued After Hiring International Automotive Ex-CEO

International Automotive Components Group North America Inc. sued an affiliate of Motherson Group unit SMP Automotive in Delaware on Monday, seeking to block its ousted former CEO from breaching noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements by working for its rival.

Ex-CEO Natale Rea—"apparently driven by a toxic mix of vengeance and egotism, and with the knowledge and support of his new employer, SMP—has chosen to brazenly flout each and every one of these clear contractual commitments,” the Chancery Court complaint says.

The lawsuit accuses Rea of successfully soliciting “at least one” IAC employee, and trying to take others with him to one ...