Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Synthes won another round in its lawsuit against a former sales rep who quit to work for rival Globus Medical (NYSE:GMED) when a Pennsylvania state judge barred the rep from selling to his former Synthes customers.
Late last year, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that the Chester County Court of Common Pleas erred when it denied a Synthes bid for a preliminary injunction to prevent any further occurrence of the alleged contract violations.
Judge Mark Tunnell of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas decided May 20 to grant the injunction after all, Law360 reported.
Synthes USA sued Globus and Peter Harrison for breach of contract in 2012, after Harrison quit to go to work for Globus. The lawsuit alleges that Harrison broke the confidentiality and non-compete clauses in his contract with Synthes by using confidential information from Synthes to lure customers to Globus. Harrison argues that a lawsuit he filed in California, where he worked for Synthes, supersedes the Pennsylvania case.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled in December 2013 that Tunnell erred in his reading of Harrison’s contract with Synthes, which explicitly stated that any legal disputes be heard in Pennsylvania, according to court documents.
The case is 1 in a raft of lawsuits over their respective sales forces between Globus and Synthes, which Johnson & Johnson acquired in 2012. Synthes sued Globus in October 2013, accusing it and 3 former Texas sales reps of breach of contract. In July 2013, Synthes filed a breach of contract lawsuit against a pair of former sales reps who jumped ship for Sky Surgical, a Globus distributor. And in September 2013, Synthes leveled charges against 2 more former employees who quit to work for Peerless Surgical.