Data storage giant EMC Corp. is suing two men who helped sell it a consulting firm and later started a firm that EMC says competes against it in violation of the first firm’s sale conditions, according to court documents.
In a lawsuit that Hopkinton-based EMC filed in US District Court in Massachusetts earlier this week, the company said it paid more than $200 million in 2007 to buy BusinessEdge Solutions. Two of BusinessEdge’s founders, Emanuel Arturi and Francis Casagrande, “reaped in excess of $50 million each’’ from the sale, the suit says.
After a stint as EMC employees, Arturi and Casagrande left EMC and later formed a firm called Knowledgent Group, which EMC claims is similar to BusinessEdge. According to its website, Knowledgent was founded in 2009.
EMC alleges Arturi and Casagrande were “amply’’ compensated to refrain from competing against EMC while using confidential EMC information under conditions related to the BusinessEdge sale.
Attempts to reach Arturi and Casagrande were not immediately successful.
EMC’s suit asks the court to issue an injunction against Arturi, Casagrande, and Knowledgent and award EMC damages in an amount to be determined later.
