Why Amazon Is Suing Over An Exec That Jumped Ship To Target

There is a secret ingredient (or two) that goes into Amazon’s sauce (as it were), and apparently, the eCommerce giant is quite serious about not wanting it getting around. (Hint: The ingredient is not oregano.)

GeekWire reports that 16-year Amazon veteran Arthur Valdez recently accepted a new role in supply chain and logistics at Target Corp. However, Amazon is claiming that, even in the interview process, Valdez has already violated the terms of the non-competition agreement he signed as part of his Amazon employment.

According to the outlet, Amazon has filed suit in Seattle’s King County Superior Court a week before Valdez is scheduled to start his new role at Target, alleging that he “cannot lead Target’s supply chain operations without referencing confidential information learned and developed by him at Amazon to drive superior performance in exactly the same areas.”

The filing goes on to outline exactly how Valdez has violated his agreement during the interviewing process with the retail giant, which is now looking to expand more aggressively into the online sector and compete with the likes of Amazon.

“While interviewing with Target’s most senior executives, Mr. Valdez referenced not only core aspects of Amazon’s confidential information, training and expertise but also the title and topics of a key analysis and strategy meeting Mr. Valdez was contributing to and participating in at Amazon,” the company says in its suit, in a statement shared by GeekWire. “Mr. Valdez’s behavior at Target with respect to Amazon’s confidential information before being hired there highlights the injury to Amazon from Mr. Valdez’s work for Target if he works there.”

The outlet adds that Amazon has filed similar suits against executives who have left for rival companies in the past, with mixed results. The company is presently banking that Washington’s favorable non-compete laws are upheld more regularly than in nearby states like California.

Valdez, the story adds, is to honor the 18-month “time out” in the contract he signed in 1999 and keep Amazon’s rival at a disadvantage, for the time being.