Mark Thorson
2008-09-23 19:19:13 UTC
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20051128/ai_n15872662/print
Baltimore-based Belfort Instruments suing fired worker
Caryn Tamber
A Baltimore manufacturer of weather instruments
is suing a fired employee it claims is on an
anonymous Internet rampage. Belfort Instrument
says Mark A. Kukucka has been harassing current
Belfort employees via e-mail, calling the
company's customers and partners alleging
unethical business practices, and posting trade
secrets on the Internet. Defendant Kukucka has
an alarming history of engaging in such 'anonymous'
Internet attacks against those who he believes may
have slighted him (including past employers), and,
absent a TRO, will continue his historical pattern
of making outrageous and harmful attacks against
the material business interests of Belfort
Instrument, reads Belfort's complaint, filed
earlier this month in Baltimore County Circuit
Court. Belfort, which obtained a temporary
restraining order against Kukucka on Nov. 15, is
suing him for misappropriating trade secrets,
breach of contract, defamation and tortious
interference with contractual relations. The
company is seeking $1 million. After consulting
with his client, Belfort attorney Douglas W.
Desmarais declined to speak about the case.
My client's position is that this is a dispute
that they have chosen to resolve through legal
channels, and they're going to let it play out
through legal channels, Desmarais said. Kukucka
could not be located for comment; his phone
number is unlisted and a reverse search of his
Kingsville address produced no results. According
to the complaint, when Kukucka started working
for Belfort in 2001, he signed a contract
promising that, if he left the company, for two
years afterward he would not say negative things
about it; if he did, he would face court action.
He is also bound by the Maryland Uniform Trade
Secrets Act not to divulge privileged information,
Belfort says. Kukucka was fired on Oct. 20 of
this year and then started to harass his
ex-girlfriend, still a Belfort employee, via
e-mail, the suit reads. He also allegedly
e-mailed the company's general mailbox anonymously,
promising to fight back against the company and
drive it out of business. The company also claims
he called their customers and made untrue
allegations. Kukucka also used an Internet
newsgroup to criticize the Belfort product he had
been in charge of marketing, the DigiWx AWOS
digital weather transmitter, calling it Digi$H*T,
Belfort claims. He also allegedly listed which of
Belfort's customers were using DigiWx. The motion
does not state how Belfort knows that Kukucka is
behind the anonymous e-mails, phone calls and
Internet postings, but a letter from Desmarais to
Kukucka warns that Belfort can easily trace the
communications to Kukucka. Belfort also claims
that Kukucka has a history of using pseudonyms
to criticize whoever has offended [him] on a
particular day. Indeed, a search of Google's
newsgroups shows lots of chatter about Kukucka,
including several posts purporting to unmask him
as the anonymous source of negative comments
about Baltimore and a Japan-based company called
Shimadzu, for which he allegedly worked at one
point.
Baltimore-based Belfort Instruments suing fired worker
Caryn Tamber
A Baltimore manufacturer of weather instruments
is suing a fired employee it claims is on an
anonymous Internet rampage. Belfort Instrument
says Mark A. Kukucka has been harassing current
Belfort employees via e-mail, calling the
company's customers and partners alleging
unethical business practices, and posting trade
secrets on the Internet. Defendant Kukucka has
an alarming history of engaging in such 'anonymous'
Internet attacks against those who he believes may
have slighted him (including past employers), and,
absent a TRO, will continue his historical pattern
of making outrageous and harmful attacks against
the material business interests of Belfort
Instrument, reads Belfort's complaint, filed
earlier this month in Baltimore County Circuit
Court. Belfort, which obtained a temporary
restraining order against Kukucka on Nov. 15, is
suing him for misappropriating trade secrets,
breach of contract, defamation and tortious
interference with contractual relations. The
company is seeking $1 million. After consulting
with his client, Belfort attorney Douglas W.
Desmarais declined to speak about the case.
My client's position is that this is a dispute
that they have chosen to resolve through legal
channels, and they're going to let it play out
through legal channels, Desmarais said. Kukucka
could not be located for comment; his phone
number is unlisted and a reverse search of his
Kingsville address produced no results. According
to the complaint, when Kukucka started working
for Belfort in 2001, he signed a contract
promising that, if he left the company, for two
years afterward he would not say negative things
about it; if he did, he would face court action.
He is also bound by the Maryland Uniform Trade
Secrets Act not to divulge privileged information,
Belfort says. Kukucka was fired on Oct. 20 of
this year and then started to harass his
ex-girlfriend, still a Belfort employee, via
e-mail, the suit reads. He also allegedly
e-mailed the company's general mailbox anonymously,
promising to fight back against the company and
drive it out of business. The company also claims
he called their customers and made untrue
allegations. Kukucka also used an Internet
newsgroup to criticize the Belfort product he had
been in charge of marketing, the DigiWx AWOS
digital weather transmitter, calling it Digi$H*T,
Belfort claims. He also allegedly listed which of
Belfort's customers were using DigiWx. The motion
does not state how Belfort knows that Kukucka is
behind the anonymous e-mails, phone calls and
Internet postings, but a letter from Desmarais to
Kukucka warns that Belfort can easily trace the
communications to Kukucka. Belfort also claims
that Kukucka has a history of using pseudonyms
to criticize whoever has offended [him] on a
particular day. Indeed, a search of Google's
newsgroups shows lots of chatter about Kukucka,
including several posts purporting to unmask him
as the anonymous source of negative comments
about Baltimore and a Japan-based company called
Shimadzu, for which he allegedly worked at one
point.