Landus Cooperative of Ames has filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of the United States District Court, naming NEW Cooperative and two of their employees in 13 counts. Documents filed with the court ask for a temporary restraining order, actual, punitive and exemplary damages along with attorney fees and interest. Jeffrey Ryan Headley and Brian David Berns were former Landus employees who are accused of the theft and misappropriation of confidential information considered “trade secrets” and then of attempting to cover up this theft by destroying evidence. The suit also states that since the defendants were employed by NEW Cooperative at that time, the cooperative is liable for their actions. The filing says Headley and Berns were field sales agronomists, Berns through the Churdan and Farnhamville Landus locations and Headley through Paton and Somers. Both had access to pricing, inventory and strategy information. When Berns’ employment at Landus was terminated in early December 2020 for disparaging remarks made about Landus and several employees, he went to work for NEW Cooperative. Headley resigned, following Berns to NEW Cooperative shortly after. Landus is alleging that Headley stole the confidential information just two days before resigning in late December and had sent over 30 improper emails that included numerous attachments to his personal email account. Some of the transferred information included Landus customer lists, pricing and inventory information as well as sales and marketing strategies, goals and initiatives. Landus also claims that Headley knew this was classified as misconduct as he factory cleared his Landus-issued iPhone and iPad to prevent detection and later cleared the items from his personal computer. Both men had signed a confidentiality agreement with Landus. Executives at Landus are claiming they have been losing customers since Berns and Headly’s departure, including those previously assigned to them and as of Dec. 30, 2020, $253,517 in prepayments have been returned at those customers’ request. They have also received 18 requests for soil sample data to be transferred to Berns at NEW Cooperative. The counts in the lawsuit include: violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act by Headley, Berns and NEW Cooperative; Misappropriation of Trade Secrets against all three; breach of fiduciary duty of loyalty and confidentiality against Berns and Headley; intentional interference with prospective economic advantage against NEW Cooperative; intentional interference with contract against all three; unjust enrichment against all three; and evidence spoilation against all three. Carroll Broadcasting has contacted NEW Cooperative management for comment. They are currently reviewing the suit and say they will provide a statement at a later date.
