On June 9, our federal court of appeals gave the go-ahead to a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit made personally against a CEO accused of masterminding the theft of competitors’ trade secrets. In an increasingly competitive business environment, new tools are welcome in fighting unfair practices.
What is RICO?
Back in 1970, Congress decided organized crime was getting out of hand. Legitimate businesses were being taken over by the mob, and mob bosses were escaping punishment by having lower-level subordinates take the fall. Enter: RICO, which is a civil law, not a criminal one. To prove a violation, it must be shown that a person has engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity connected to the acquisition, establishment, conduct, or control of an enterprise (i.e., a business).
The pattern must involve two acts of a criminal nature that have the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission. If proven, the plaintiff gets treble actual damages, such as lost profits. It adds up!
How Does This Apply to the CEO?
Well, let’s filter the facts through this law:
- The CEO is a person in charge of USA DeBusk (USAD) LLC.
- He allegedly personally directed the raiding of three competitors (including the plaintiff, EnvTech), taking their employees with the intent of stealing their trade secrets (a pattern).
- This is in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, 18 U.S.C. 1832 (here, a special formula to clean oil refineries).
The Bottom Line
This case involved the question of whether the plaintiff stated a legal claim, which it did. Now, pretrial proceedings will be conducted to determine the factual basis, if any, for the allegations. Here’s the court:
EnvTech has plausibly alleged that [CEO] DeBusk committed trade secret theft and conspiracy to commit the same against it, and that this was part of a modus operandi of conducting the enterprise USAD through a related and continuous pattern of Rico predicate acts [i.e., legal violations].
Another arrow in your quiver.
Michael P. Maslanka is a professor at the UNT-Dallas College of Law. You can reach him at michael.maslanka@untdallas.edu.