Two of the world’s most well-known luxury jewelry brands are set for a legal battle – with Cartier filing suit against Tiffany & Co. on Monday over claims that its rival stole trade secrets about a high-end product line by hiring one of its former employees.
Filed in New York state court, Cartier’s complaint detailed an episode in which Tiffany’s upper management allegedly sought to address “disarray” in its high-end jewelry division by hiring one of Cartier’s junior managers for a position she was not qualified to fill – a move the plaintiff said was solely motivated by a desire for information about Cartier’s “High Jewelry” collection.
The complaint alleges that the employee, identified as Megan Marino, forwarded confidential information about Cartier’s High Jewelry collection to her personal email days before she resigned from the company. After she was hired by Tiffany & Co., Marino purportedly provided the information to executives at her new employer.
