Goodyear Requests Injunction Regarding Former Employee

(Akron/Tire Review) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has filed a request in Ohio’s Summit County Common Pleas Court for an injunction to stop a former tyre development employee from working for a competiting manufacturer.

Christopher A Raglin, former tyre development engineer at Goodyear, left the company on 13 April and then took at job with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co in Findlay, Ohio. In Goodyear’s complaint, the company said Mr Raglin helped develop its Assurance tyre, had access to details about Goodyear’s tyre technology and participated in high-level product planning meetings.

According to Goodyear, in 2002, Mr Raglin signed an agreement to maintain trade secrets and confidential information and agreed not to work for a competitor for at least two years after leaving Goodyear.

Mr Raglin’s attorney told local journalists that Goodyear had exaggerated his client’s involvement in the discussion of trade secrets. He also stated that the noncompete agreement that Mr Raglin signed is enforceable only if it protects a legitimate business interest. Goodyear also named Cooper as a defendant.