Litigation and anger can be a dangerous mixlike drinking and driving. Sometimes a company and its lawyers can become so outraged when a valued employee leaves, especially when executives believe that the employee took company secrets with him, that they lash out in court. That’s what Eaton Corporation did when it sued six engineers who left for another company. Eight years later, Eaton is still dealing with the painful consequences of its actions.
Oh, what a tangled web Eaton wove. Its civil and criminal allegations, followed by the defendants’ countersuits, have reached into four courts in Ohio, Mississippi, and North Carolina [see "Litigation Scorecard," page 64]. In one Mississippi county court alone, the original suit has gone through three judges and three special masters.
