Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) sued a ex-staffer over claims she revealed off the record information about the company. It was disclosed to a journalist who was writing a book about CEO Marissa Mayer’s leadership. The charges are against Cecile Lal who was a former senior director at Yahoo’s product management segment. She leaked proprietary information that she came across during “FYI” meetings with CEO Mayer.
The details
Yahoo stated that Lal’s assistance to journalist Nicholas Carlson for his new book, “Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!,” was extended to looking for confidential archives to provide relevant information for his writings. She also gave her credentials to company’s password-protected site.
The issue
The lawyers said that Lal was eager to reveal Yahoo’s secrets even disclosing Carlson in answer to a particular request that if she knows the date of FYI precisely or other matters talked on that day, will help in figuring the information he looked for. The book highlights Mayer’s attempt to turn around Yahoo. The book portrays the CEO as a sometimes tenacious and effective leader while at other time highlights the several difficulties she faced to generate success at a company that played an important role in pioneering the Internet.
Amended claims
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) stated Lal as an ex-chief of staff to a senior VP in its original complaint registered on May 6. The company then amended complaint, removing the chief of staff title. Yahoo accused former employee of breaching her confidentiality agreement and fiduciary duty, stating that in addition to revealing sensitive information from “FYI” meetings, she even gave Carlson with transcripts of Q&A sessions between the CEO and employees that were stored in company’s password-protected intranet. Following the breach, information was disclosed to company’s peers leading to loss of a competitive advantage. Carlson mentioned in the book that he relied on anonymous sourcing.
