Apple sues ex-employee for giving trade secrets to reporter

Apple has sued a former product designer at the company for allegedly giving company trade secrets to a reporter, reports Chaim Gartenberg of The Verge.

Gartenberg reports, “According to Apple’s suit, Lancaster and his correspondent began communicating in 2018 about the possibility of obtaining information; the two then spent the next year in communication. Lancaster then reportedly contacted his correspondent in spring 2019, asking him to investigate rumors of a potential Apple product that could ‘mean trouble for my startup.’ The lawsuit also claims that Lancaster boasted to a third party shortly after that conversation that his media contact would be writing a story on his startup if it hit $1 million in funding.

“In October 2019, Lancaster reportedly notified his correspondent that he was planning to leave Apple, giving over secret information on Apple products and asking if they wanted ‘to write a story about a 12-year Apple Design Veteran leaving for an amazing startup?’ The correspondent also allegedly asked Lancaster to get additional information on an unannounced project that Apple refers to as ‘Project X.’

“Lancaster then submitted his notice of resignation to Apple on October 15th, but kept chatting with his media source — the next day, they allegedly asked for specific documents they wanted Lancaster to get before he left the company.”

Read more here.