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Investing

SunPower Suing SolarCity (SPWR, TOT, TSLA)

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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.

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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.

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