In a preliminary statement to the New York State Supreme Court, Tiffany & Co. is forcefully denying its rival Cartier’s claim that it had tried to steal its trade secrets.
According to IDEX Online, Tiffany’s counterclaim states: “This case presents a truly bizarre circumstance. Cartier’s principal ‘evidence’ is the affidavit of an ex-employee who confesses she has lied to everyone, including both Cartier and Tiffany, under oath, while being advised by her own counsel.” According to Tiffany, the Cartier lawsuit has “fatal legal deficiencies” and is designed for “maximum publicity rather than any genuine relief.”
Cartier, which is owned by the Richemont Group, has claimed in the lawsuit that Tiffany hired junior manager Megan Marino for her knowledge of Cartier’s “high jewelry collection of pieces priced at up to $10 million,” then fired her after just five weeks. In an affidavit accompanying the Cartier lawsuit, Marino said that Tiffany was “more interested in hiring me as a source of information than as a high jewelry manager.”
