In August 2025, Equans Inc. successfully obtained a provisional injunction in a trade secrets and employee mobility dispute involving a former senior manager who had resigned to join a direct competitor.
Following the employee’s departure, a forensic review revealed that several thousand files had been copied from the employee’s corporate OneDrive account to an external storage device and that many files had subsequently been deleted from Equans’ systems. The documents included commercially sensitive information relating to Equans’ operations, financial performance, pricing structures, profitability analyses and bid preparation strategies, as well as confidential information belonging to major clients.
Fasken commenced urgent proceedings seeking provisional, interlocutory and permanent injunctive relief, preservation measures and damages. The provisional injunction ordered, among other measures, the return and preservation of confidential information, an independent forensic review of the defendant’s devices, and prohibitions against the use or disclosure of Equans’ trade secrets and confidential information.
The matter remains ongoing on the merits and damages. Equans is pursuing, among other remedies, recovery of costs associated with the development of the trade secrets at issue under article 1612 of the Civil Code of Québec, a remedy that has rarely been considered by Québec courts.
A Fasken team including Patricia Hénault and Sophie Desmeules (Intellectual Property) and Charles Wagner (Employment) represents Equans in this matter.
Jurisdiction
- Québec
