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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Learnframe Inc. has filed a $32 million lawsuit against a Chicago company it claims hired laid-off employees and used them to steal proprietary software code.
The lawsuit filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City contends Trifus LLC also failed to make contract and loan payments.
Denver Snuffer, attorney for the Sandy-based computer-based training software and services company, alleged Trifus solicited former Learnframe employees' confidential customer and client lists and then lured customers away from the Utah company.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, failure to pay a note, intentional business interference and civil theft and copyright violation relating to misappropriation of software source code.
Trifus attorney David Berton said Thursday that he had not yet seen the complaint and could not comment until he was able to review the allegations.
Learnframe attorney Denver Snuffer contends his client's problems with Trifus began with a November 2000 contract authorizing the Illinois e-learning services company to resell Learnframe's products.
The lawsuit alleges Trifus quickly fell behind on its contract payments. In August 2001, the company signed a $1.25 million promissory note in order to continue its relationship with Learnframe, but also failed to make payments on that loan, Snuffer said.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
