Opinion ID: 536387
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wittner's contract with TEC

Text: 12 Eli Wittner's employment agreement with TEC included the following provision: 13 I will not, during my employment by TEC or thereafter without TEC's written approval, disclose to others nor use for my own benefit or the future benefit of any other individual or firm, data and information which is not generally known, which relates to my work or which relates to the actual or anticipated business, products, services or projects of TEC or similar data and information of other individuals or organizations to which I may gain access in the course of my employment or by reason of such employment. 14 (Emphasis added.) 15 The trade secrets at issue in this case are the software source codes and documentation sold to CG & E. The bankruptcy court decided, and the district court agreed, that Eli Wittner did not breach his employment agreement's prohibition on the disclosure of trade secrets because, under the licensing agreements, Bechtel and CG & E had the right to use the software they had purchased. The bankruptcy court found that TEC sold the CG & E software with no license restriction and that TEC orally advised CG & E of a license to use and modify the system with its in-house personnel or by use of independent contractors. We are in agreement with those positions and hold that there was no breach of confidentiality in Wittner's use of the CG & E project software while working for ISI. 16 TEC, however, points out that Wittner's employment agreement prohibited not only the disclosure, but also the use of trade secrets. TEC argues that its general license to CG & E allowing third-party contractors to perform work on the TEC software did not relieve Wittner of his contractual obligation not to use the source code for the benefit of some entity other than TEC. TEC claims that the employment agreement expanded TEC's protection beyond the protection against disclosure offered by the common law; under the agreement, the employee may not use the confidential information for the benefit of another, no matter how it was obtained. 17 We disagree. We hold that TEC's licensing agreement with its customers concerning the use of its software undercuts its argument that the employment agreement prohibited Wittner from working on the CG & E system for ISI. We do not read the employment agreement's prohibition against the use of proprietary materials to prevent a former employee from working with software that the customer has been licensed to allow anyone to use. TEC's employment agreement with Wittner does not contain a non-compete provision, and we do not construe the prohibition against use of proprietary materials to act as a covenant not to compete. The prohibition is limited to information not generally known. It does not apply to the software for the CG & E project, which was explicitly generally known to, and authorized to be used by, CG & E.