Milwaukee-based
Brady Corp. is suing a former senior-level employee, and his new employer, after he allegedly accepted a job at Menomonee Falls-based
Tailored Label Products, a competitor to Brady, despite signing a confidential information agreement, and later hid his new position.
Eric Wood was previously IDS general manager, Americas at Brady Corp. from March 2018 until he submitted his resignation in November 2022. Brady allowed Wood to serve as a special advisor to the president of identification solutions until his official separation date of March 1, 2023.
In his role at Brady, Wood had access to the company’s strategic plans, existing and future products, detailed financials, manufacturing methods, and research and development. As the IDS general manager, Wood specifically oversaw specialized labeling products.
As part of his onboarding process at Brady, Wood signed a confidential information agreement that stated for a period of six months after his employment ended, he would not provide any sort of services to Brady’s competitors. In addition to the confidential information agreement, Wood signed a post-employment non-compete provision that limited his future employers for a year.
After submitting his resignation letter, Wood allegedly requested a waiver from his non-compete obligations from
Russell Shaller, president and CEO of Brady, so he could seek employment at Tailored Label Products. Tailored Label is a manufacturer of labels, tags, and die-cut adhesives. Shaller denied Wood’s request. He still accepted a role at Tailored Label, according to the complaint, and was named president by April 2023.
"Wood and Tailored Label Products have taken steps to conceal Wood’s employment with Tailored Label Products," according to the complaint. "For instance, Wood has not updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new employment, there are no publicly available announcements of his appointment as president, and Wood is not mentioned on Tailored Label’s website as of the time of this complaint."
Brady only learned about Wood’s new role at Tailored Label after he gave a presentation at Milwaukee School of Engineering. During the presentation, Wood’s new title was included on a PowerPoint slide. Brady allegedly sent a letter to Woods demanding he end his employment at Tailored Label, but he continued working there.
"For its part, through its employment of Wood, Tailored Label Products has acquired and used Brady’s confidential information and trade secrets despite knowing, or having reason to know, that Wood acquired such information subject to contractual duties to maintain it in secrecy,” according to the complaint.
Brady is seeking compensatory damages, as well as an order that will force Tailored Label to repay any profits it achieved using Brady’s confidential information or trade secrets.
Representatives from Tailored Label did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Brady Corp. declined to comment on the pending litigation.
