Google has apparently another legal problem on its hands. A lawsuit has been filed by PayPal, the fastest-growing unit at EBay. PayPal claims that Google misappropriated trade secrets from PayPal’s mobile payment business. The lawsuit was filed yesterday in San Jose, California, according to Bloomberg.
Apparently, Google hired a PayPal executive by the name of Osama Bedier. This individual proceeded to steal confidential company information. In addition, PayPal claims that another former employee, Stephanie Tilenius, violated contractual obligations. She was the one responsible for recruiting Bedier and getting him to Google. Osama Bedier is in charge of efforts to bring Google’s point of sale technologies and services to retailers. According to the complaint, “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers. ” PayPal is working with retailers to develop a new point of sale system for retailers. Google also revealed services to let consumers pay merchants and download coupons with a tap of their mobile phones.
PayPal also claims that Bedier discussed a job with Google while leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android market. He didn’t disclose the talks, which is a breach of his fiduciary duty, according to the company. Apparently, Tilenius was under contract to not recruit employees when she left EBay in 2009. She sent Bedier messages on Facebook telling him she had a “HUGE” opportunity for him and sent him advice while he interviewed for a position. Aaron Zamost, a spokesman for Google, said that Google has not received a copy of the suit and cannot comment.
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