Legal Question in Business Law in Indiana

Customer List Ownership

A friend joined an existing company as an employee working from her own home. She brought existing customers with her and developed new ones while so employed. She signed no confidentiality or non-compete agreement. Her present employer does not know the identities of her customers. She wants to leave that company and start her own business, doing the same work in the same location for the same customers. Does her employer have any basis to claim ownership of her customer list?


Asked on 10/14/01, 5:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
C. David DuMond Law Offices of David DuMond

Re: Customer List Ownership

It's not possible to fairly evaluate this problem from the information you could send on this post. Probably the current employer will not be able to do anything about your friend's departure and use of customer lists. An Irish fairy tale comes to mind where one character says something like, "He can have what he can take." Anarchy prevails. The employer may be able to stop some conduct if it can be shown that your friend is somehow using the employer's trade secrets. Your friend needs to consult with an attorney and discuss all the details of the business.

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Answered on 11/22/01, 8:56 am


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