Legal Question in Workers Comp in Mexico
HI, I am outside USA and I am not Ameican. I want some advice about this:
I worked for an American company some years ago, abroad. I had to handle some files with information about some chemical formulas of products and manufacturing process. Company never gave me a contract, so we did not signed any paper, all was by word. Every 2 or 3 months they paid me some fees (delayed, bec ause I worked and they paid me later).
I trusted them, then they started to delay the payments more, so they owed me more than 6 months, they told me to wait because they had finantial problems but they would pay me later. When they owed me already almost a year, I asked me to pay me all the debt, but the owner told me they could not pay me because they were not selling their products. It was not my fault because they did not want to pay a company to share a booth in an exhibition. Then they told me the work relationship had finished and that they would appoint a dealer. I said OK, but pay me the $ you owe me. They denied to pay me. I could not sue them because as I said, we didn not have a contract.
My question is: May I offer the formulas to other companies in the world, to sell them for a cheap price and get the money the cheating company did not pay me? Is there a risk for me if I sell the formulas to others ?
I did not sign any compromise to keep their information secret.
One detail more. In recent years, this company me sold the line of products to other American company- company B) . Could this company B -( they dont even know me) take actions against me for selling info about these products?
I think maybe I can, before offering the information to companies in the world, to contact the first company and tell them that if they dont pay me the debt, I will sell the info and maybe they will have problems with the current company.
If they pay me what they owe me, I would not sell their info to competitors. If not, I will sell it or I could give it for free to their competitors, to damage them as they damaged me. Please some advice. I will check this site several days from now on.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In order to properly answer I would need to know in what country did you work and if the formulas and/or process are being use by that company and / or registered by it. In general I believe you have more future in a lawsuit against that company (even if years have pass) than pursuing the plan you are explaining since you don�t know for certain if according to your contract on that time you where obligated to confidentiality and/or if your ideas, formulas or procedures where deemed property of the corporation.
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