NEW YORK — Batterymaker A123 Systems is suing Apple, claiming it poached some key staff members in violation of their nondisclosure and noncompete agreements when they left A123.
According to a lawsuit filed early last week in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, A123 is seeking a restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop former employee Mujeeb Ijaz from hiring hire former A123 employees at Apple, where he now works. A123 makes lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and other products.
The complaint says Apple is starting a battery division nearly identical to A123. Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
“It appears that Apple, with the assistance of defendant Ijaz, is systematically hiring away A123’s high tech PhD and engineering employees,” A123 says in the complaint.
The suit is the latest development in A123’s checkered history. It received a $249 million grant from the Department of Energy in August 2009 to help it build U.S. factories, but it posted repeated losses and struggled for several years. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012 and sold off some assets and reorganized.