Epic is taking a hard line against a former contract worker who allegedly leaked information about Fortnite Battle Royale and season four. The spoilers, according to Epic, were first leaked to a second party and then posted to a now-deleted Reddit thread. The defendant, Thomas Hannah, has said that he was "pumped with a series of questions in a casual discussion to try to guess where the meteor (from Season 4) would hit". Epic says this provided secrets that it wanted kept under wraps.
"This is a civil action seeking injunctive relief and damages against Defendant for (i) misappropriation of trade secrets in violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016; (ii) misappropriation of trade secrets in violation of the North Carolina Trade Secrets Protection Act; (iii) common law civil conspiracy; and (iv) breach of contract in violation of North Carolina law" the documentation obtained by Polygon states.
Further, "One way trade secret owners protect their trade secrets while disclosing them to others is through non-disclosure agreements ("NDAs"). NDAs are contracts that allow trade secret owners to entrust others with confidential and proprietary information, including trade secrets while maintaining the security and integrity of the information."
The suit was filed in May 7th, just over a month after Mr. Hannah left Epic's employ. He worked on Fortnite from December 4, 2017 to April 4, 2018.
As a result of the alleged NDA breach, Epic says "it has suffered and is continuing to suffer irreparable injury" that cannot be repaired through a money award alone. Epic would like to see punitive damages assessed against Hannah as well as compensation for attorney's fees. Hannah's attorneys are seeking a dismissal of the case.
Read the full legal documentation here.
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