BATAVIA, IL - Two of Europe’s premier discount grocers may be sparring in U.S. court soon. Aldi is suing two former employees, along with rival retailer Lidl, for allegedly stealing proprietary information, according to a Triangle Business Journal report.
According to that report, Aldi’s lawsuit—filed in North Carolina by Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney on behalf of Aldi—targets two former employees Bruna Maraccini and Colleen Savory. The suit alleges that Maraccini—who held various roles including Director of Operations and Director of Real Estate for Aldi—retained a number of confidential assets after leaving Aldi, violated a noncompete agreement, and went on to share confidential data with rival retailer Lidl. The suit also claims that Maraccini enlisted Savory’s aid to steal information from Aldi when Savory was serving as a Real Estate Assistant.
“ALDI has and will suffer immediate and irreparable harm if Maraccini’s violation of her contractual obligations to ALDI and both Maraccini and Savory’s misappropriation of ALDI’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets are not immediately enjoined,” Aldi alleged in the complaint.
The complaint cites email records and a removable storage device retrieved from Savory’s desk, which suggest the two colluded to take and share sensitive data including files on project timelines, project costs, and purchase agreements.
Both Aldi and Lidl have been aggressively expanding stateside. In 2017, Aldi announced plans to expand precipitously; the retailer introduced a $3.4 billion investment intended to bring the company’s U.S. store count to 2,500 by 2022. Lidl first entered the U.S. market in July of 2017 and has since been pursing a similarly expansive strategy throughout the Eastern U.S.
