HARRISBURG — Hershey is claiming former executive Doug Behrens stole trade secrets during his roles at Hershey and Amplify before going to work for Kind.
The Hershey Co. filed a complaint Jan. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Behrens, alleging breach of contract.
Following Hershey's purchase of Amplify in January 2018, Behrens continued as president of Amplify. In May 2018, he began his position as chief customer officer with Hershey. Hershey alleges Behrens had access to trade secrets and confidential information during his time with both companies. It claims Behrens stole the companies' information and that prior to his leaving the company to work for Kind LLC, he sent more than 100 Hershey documents to his personal email and deleted data from his laptop.
Hershey seeks repayment of Behrens' $250,000 sign-on bonus, $367,961 in cash equivalency of his 2,392 shares of Hershey stock, $3,698 in dividends and all other just relief. It is represented by Michael Burkhardt, Michael Puma and Benjamin Jacobs of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case number 1:20-CV-00140-SHR