On Monday, Mission Healthcare Services, LLC and Healthy Living at Home – Carson City, LLC filed a complaint in the District of Nevada against Battle Born Home Health, LLC and its high ranking officials for allegedly stealing and using Mission’s trade secrets to gain a competitive advantage in their industry.
Mission and Battle Born operate in an “extremely competitive environment with a number of national, regional, and local home health and hospice service companies within their footprint vying for the opportunity to serve the same patient population,” per Mission’s filing.
In the complaint, Mission detailed how they “expend substantial time, effort, and resources developing, maintaining, and creating […] trade secrets, including techniques, strategies, and information about its Referral Sources, employees, and patients.” The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants “devised a scheme at least by November 2021 in which they planned to and did instantly launch a profitable home health company by improperly acquiring Mission’s business, assets, and resources (including its employees) without having to pay for it” by forming Battle Born while they were still employed by Mission.
This scheme took months to enact, and during this time employees were “instructed” to continue to take paychecks from Mission so that Mission was essentially “funding the scheme,” according to Mission. The defendants allegedly solicited and hired multiple Mission employees and contractors with an “intent to utilize Mission’s Business Information and Trade Secrets and reap the benefits of their improper solicitation of Mission’s employees and contractor” which would take Battle Born from the “start-up phase to a fully functioning competitor of Mission.”
These employees allegedly took sensitive information including “financial information; future plans of every type; pricing schedules, lists, promotions, and products; marketing and sales strategies including without limitation information and strategy regarding Referral Sources; concepts, designs, models, strategies, procedures, ideas, and know how” to enact this scheme.
As a result, Mission is suing for state and federal misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and intentional interference with contractual relations.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages, actual damages, punitive damages, exemplary damages, an accounting all gains, profits, and advantages derived by Defendants as a result of their misappropriation and improper use of Mission’s Business Information and Trade Secrets, injunctive relief, restitution, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and costs, and other relief.
Mission Healthcare Services is represented by Holland & Hart LLP.
