SunPower Suing SolarCity (SPWR, TOT, TSLA)

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Published

Solar panel maker SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) is suing solar installer SolarCity and five former SunPower employees for stealing thousands of company documents before the five left to work at SolarCity. SunPower is majority owned by Total SA, and SolarCity was founded by two brothers who are cousins of Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.

The suit alleges that

SolarCity knowingly accepted these stolen computer files containing SunPower confidential information and non-confidential proprietary information.

SolarCity responded in a statement:

Over the past few months, following its acquisition by a foreign oil company, a number of SunPower’s best salespeople decided to join SolarCity. SunPower is apparently taking exception to that.”

SunPower claims that the five employees who left the company used personal storage devices to make copies of company documents before leaving. The suit was filed in federal court in Northern California.

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

AXON Vol: 557,829
CDW
CDW Vol: 1,111,881
IBM
IBM Vol: 9,895,545
MRNA Vol: 4,160,625
CHTR Vol: 1,481,767

Top Losing Stocks

MU Vol: 36,898,960
ON Vol: 5,510,779
LRCX Vol: 7,003,948
QCOM Vol: 13,959,555
MCHP Vol: 5,685,782