CAPE GIRARDEAU – A company that provides heavy industrial and construction equipment rentals is suing a former branch manager alleging she breached contract by leaving to work for a competitor and encouraging other employees to do the same.
BlueLine Rental LLC filed suit against its former Scott City branch manager Dana Rowland in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Southeastern Division on Aug. 3 claiming she violated an employee confidentiality, non-solicitation and non-competition agreement that she signed as a sales representative in 2015.
According to the complaint, Rowland was promoted to branch manager in 2017 where she oversaw eight employees and managed customer accounts and relationships. Among other things, the agreement stipulated that she would not solicit BlueLine's customers six months after termination of employment, nor solicit other employees for six months.
BlueLine claims that as branch manager, Rowland had access to sensitive company information such as customer data, company financial information, pricing and vendor agreements.
The complaint states that approximately one year after she was promoted to branch manager, Rowland emailed a two-week notice in March indicating she was leaving to help her husband start a new business. BlueLine alleges that she in fact resigned to take a job at competitor Sunbelt Rentals, a construction equipment rental business.
Before the company learned she was leaving for a competitor, it states that it wiped clean her company-issued computer and phone so that they could be reissued to another active employee.
"But for Rowland’s misrepresentations to BlueLine about the reasons for her resignation, BlueLine would have preserved the information on Rowland’s computer and cellphone to determine if she had violated any of her obligations under the agreement prior to her departure," the complaint states.
Further, BlueLine claims that Rowland recruited four key employees to join her at Sunbelt Rentals.
"The departure of BlueLine’s four key employees at the Scott City Branch within the course of three days has crippled the Scott City Branch and its ability to serve its customers, resulting in substantial losses in sales," the complaint states.
BlueLine is represented by attorneys at Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan & Jackstadt in St. Louis and Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie in Phoenix, Arizona. The company seeks injunctive and declaratory relief.