Charter Moves for Emergency Injunction vs. ex-Government Affairs Director
Charter Communications seeks a preliminary injunction enjoining Bridger Mahlum, its former director-state government affairs, from working for BroadbandMT or any other direct competitor and to keep him from divulging Charter’s trade secrets (see 2308210001), said its emergency motion Friday (docket…
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3:23-cv-01106) in U.S. District Court for Connecticut in New Haven. The court’s Aug. 30 order granted Charter’s request for a temporary restraining order against Mahlum, giving him until Sept. 29 to show cause why it shouldn’t issue a preliminary injunction in Charter’s favor. But Mahlum can’t make such a showing, “as he has blatantly violated the valid, enforceable restrictive covenants” in his Charter employment agreements and threatens to misappropriate Charter’s trade secrets for BroadbandMT’s benefit, if he hasn’t already done so, said Charter’s emergency motion. “Emergency preliminary injunctive relief is necessary in this case,” it said. Mahlum’s employment for BroadbandMT “is precisely the type of unfair competition” that the noncompete covenants in his agreements “are designed to guard against,” it said. Mahlum’s unlawful activities “immediately and irreparably harm Charter and may be remedied only by emergency and preliminary injunctive relief pending the outcome of a separate arbitration Charter filed against Mahlum,” it said. The parties’ arbitration agreement “contains a specific carve out for actions seeking temporary and preliminary injunctive relief,” it said.