Medical device makers Kinetic Concepts and arch-rival Smith & Nephew (FTSE:SN, NYSE:SNN) came to terms on a legal dispute over a poached sales executive accused of breaching his non-compete agreement.
Former Kinetic Concepts Latin American and Brazil regional vice president Israel Vierma is barred from involvement with Smith & Nephew’s Latin American wound management business until March 2015.
Vierma is further prohibited from direct involvement with Smith & Nephew’s wound care business in China, Japan or India operations for the next 60 days, MySA reported.
The terms of the settlement were kept confidential, but the companies signed a permanent injunction agreement that was filed with the Texas Western District Court and signed by Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth. That agreement blocks Vierma from in any way assisting Smith & Nephew with Central American, the Caribbean or South American operations until March 18, 2015.
That includes working on budgets or forecasts, participating in scouting, working with medical education, providing any input on strategic plans and more, according to court documents.
San Antonio, Texas-based KCI hired Vierma in March 2010 as regional vice president for Latin America and Brazil. The company sued Vierma in a Texas state court in February 2013, alleging that he broke a non-compete agreement when he became Smith & Nephew’s vice president of world-wide marketing in March 2013. The case was later removed to a federal court in the Lone Star State.
