Dyson has filed a lawsuit against the former chief executive, Max Conze, for allegedly leaking the technology firm’s top secrets.
After leading the company from 2011 – 2017, Conze left Dyson just last month. He has been accused of breaching the company’s confidentiality rules by giving secret information about unreleased products to third parties.
“The Dyson board has decided to bring a claim against Max Conze at the High Court of Justice in London in relation to his actions while chief executive including the disclosure of confidential information, and a breach of his fiduciary duties,” said Dyson in a statement.
As well as leaking information, Dyson has also claimed that Conze used the firm’s resources to evaluate a potential investment opportunity for his own benefit.
“I did nothing of the sort. During my six years as CEO of Dyson the sales and profits tripled, with the company growing from 2,500 to 10,000 staff,” said Conze, represented by law firm Mishcon de Reya.
“When I arrived from Frankfurt in 2010 Dyson sold around 5 million machines. In 2016, it sold 13m and that momentum is continuing. This couldn’t have happened without my total commitment to the business and its people. This ridiculous allegation is merely trying to distract attention from the claims that Dyson knows I am about to issue.”
“I am sorry for the unnecessary distraction all this will inevitably cause the skilled and effective team at Dyson,” he added.
Under Conze’s stay as chief executive, he saw the launch of products including the Supersonic hair dryer, which contributed to a 41 percent rise in underlying profit.
He saw the new expansion plans, founded by Dyson’s confidence in the prospects Brexit.
Dyson revealed last month that Conze is to be replaced by Jim Rowan, who was formerly the chief officer at Canadian company Research in Motion.