Trade Secrets Mistrial Question Warrants Sanctions, Court Says

A question from a plaintiff’s attorney that led to a mistrial in a food importer trade secrets case warrants sanctions, though less than requested, a California federal court said.

Perrin Bernard Supowitz LLC, known as Individual Food Service, alleged a competitor founded by two former employees—Legacy Wholesale Group LLC—benefited from stolen trade secrets in its lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California. But at trial a question to one of the employees-turned-founders about whether he’d approached IFS about a possible settlement was justifiably found to have tainted the jury, and was at least reckless enough ...