Simpson

FACTS

Respondents are all former employees of Guardian. At all relevant times, Julie Simpson was Guardian’s chief operating officer, Tracie Dotterer was Guardian’s chief financial officer, and Rhiana Davis and Gustavo Amezola held other positions. Appellant John Minar was and is Guardian’s chief executive officer. He co-owns Guardian along with his son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Claire Minar. 1 I.

THE SIMPSON ACTION

In October 2023, after terminating Simpson, Guardian and John sued her for, inter alia, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. Among the complaint’s allegations were the following: (1) Guardian’s employee handbook required Simpson to keep a variety of information confidential, obligated her to return all Guardian property upon termination of employment, and prohibited her from transmitting without authorization any document or email created by or for Guardian; (2) Simpson refused to return a variety of Guardian owned items after her termination, including books, documents, equipment, and data; (3) most of the unreturned information and data is “of a confidential and…