Shaver-Kudell Manufacturing Inc. v. Knight Manufacturing Inc., 2024 ONSC 829
2024-02-07
Read full decision. Summary prepared by Alan Macek:
The Defendants were found liable for breach of confidence and misappropriating Shaver-Kudell’s trade secrets in the liability trial. The damages were to be decided following a decision after the liability trial. ... Mr. Ballmer was Lucy Shaver’s spouse and became aware of Shaver-Kudell’s manufacturing process. He is a Swiss trained machinist who used Shaver-Kudell’s design and manufacturing process for a competing machine shop, operated by Knight Manufacturing Inc. ... Her primary reason is the expert’s assumption that Shaver-Kudell would have continued to increase the price of sleeves by 5% per year, but for Knight Manufacturing Inc. entering the market using Shaver-Kudell’s trade secrets and undercutting its prices by 40%. ... I accept Mr. McAvoy’s expert opinion evidence that, on a balance of probabilities, Shaver-Kudell has suffered an economic loss of $776,000 over the period from 2014 until 2018.