Seagate Technology has filed a complaint in a Minnesota court attempting to prevent one of its ex-employees from joining Western Digital, a competitor.Pete Goglia recently left Seagate Technology LLC to join Western Digital Corp., where he will lead that company"s read/write head development after serving at Seagate for 16 years. Seagate is attempting to block the hire, claiming that Goglia will not be able to avoid disclosing Seagate confidential information and trade secrets in the course of his new job.
"This is a situation in which one of our competitors has recently acquired the read/write head assets from a bankrupt supplier, and has stated their need to strengthen their capabilities in that technology," Dave Wickersham, Seagate"s chief operating officer, said in a statement released late Friday. "We do not wish to impugn Mr. Goglia, but only to ensure that Western Digital does not build its new recording head capabilities with Seagate trade secrets."