Buckhead Beef, an Atlanta-based meat purveyor that is part of the Sysco family of companies, has filed suit against the co-owners of a new Atlanta meat company. Buckhead filed a complaint in federal court against Chad Stine and Jason Lees, co-owners of the new Revere Meat Co. The lawsuit alleges Stine, former president of Buckhead Beef, and Lees, a former buyer, stole the company's trade secrets and confidential information in order to establish a competing business that poaches from its customer base, reports the Atlanta Business Journal.
Stine resigned from Buckhead Beef on October 3, 2014. According to the complaint, “Stine misrepresented his post-employment plans to Buckhead Beef and instead chose to form a competitor. In advance of his departure from Buckhead Beef, Stine forwarded to himself and to Lees confidential and trade secret information for their use at Revere.”