The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed to fast-track its deliberation over whether Optum can block its former executive David Smith from using confidential information he allegedly obtained before being hired by the Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan venture, according to Law 360.
The decision comes after a Massachusetts federal judge paused a federal lawsuit filed by Optum, the health services arm of UnitedHealth Group, in Massachusetts District Court in Boston Jan. 16. The lawsuit seeks to protect Optum's trade secrets from the healthcare venture launched by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.
Mr. Smith is currently pushing for immediate arbitration of the claims. The court granted him two days to respond to Optum's appeal and said it likely will not provide an extension to Mr. Smith. The court said it is willing to make a ruling without a timely response from Mr. Smith, according to Law 360. While Optum agrees the case should be settled in arbitration as outlined in an employment contract, the company claims the court can still issue an injunction, to which the judge agreed.
Optum said Feb. 12: "Accordingly, as things stand now, Optum cannot obtain temporary relief preventing irreparable harm until either this court dissolves the stay or an arbitrator can consider Optum's claims, neither of which will happen nearly as quickly as the court's decision to grant this motion could. Optum files this motion to preserve the status quo as it existed when this action was filed, which is necessary to protect Optum's trade secrets, and indeed, to protect this court's jurisdiction."
Optum and Mr. Smith didn't immediately respond to Law 360's request for comment.