Compass Minerals Unit Sued Over Fire-Suppression Trade Secrets

Perimeter Solutions LP sued a Compass Minerals International Inc. unit for allegedly stealing its trade secrets after hiring a former executive to help create a competing aerial fire-retardant system in hopes of winning a government contract.

Fortress North America LLC never offered a phosphate-based fire-retardant system until after it hired Thomas Davis as its chief manufacturing and supply chain officer, according to a complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Davis, Perimeter’s former vice president of operations, used its formula and manufacturing information to help Fortress develop a a fire retardant similar to ...