Lexmark, Dahlgren Head Back To Court

Lexmark attorneys today will ask a Kentucky court to compel former executive Bruce Dahlgren to answer specific questions related to his defection to Hewlett-Packard.

The two companies won't officially comment on the case, but published reports and court documents indicate that Dahlgren has declined answering questions during his deposition in the court case over the violation of his noncompete agreement. Until January, Dahlgren was vice president and general manager of North American Printing Solutions and Services, and consider among the top 20 executives at the No. 2 printer vendor.

According to the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, Lexmark wants Dahlgren to disclose specifics about discussions he had prior to his departure with HP's human resources executive and legal counsel.

When Dahlgren jumped ship to become HP's vice president of worldwide enterprise sales, HP immediately filed a lawsuit in the California courts to invalidate the Lexmark noncompete agreement, which barred Dahlgren from working for a competitor for one year and recruiting Lexmark talent for three years. The California courts generally do not recognize the legitimacy of noncompete agreements. Lexmark filed a countersuit in the Kentucky courts, which issued an injunction that restricted Dahlgren from working for HP in North America.

Lexmark will also reportedly ask the Kentucky court to find Dahlgren in violation of a May injunction. HP says Dahlgren is currently overseeing its European printer business. However, he did participate in last month's HP Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas, and his office is in San Diego.

According to the Herald-Leader, Lexmark plans to depose other HP executives, including CEO Mark Hurd, Imaging and Printing Group executive vice president Vyomesh Joshi, human resources executive Rand Dunn and in-house attorney Hal Mickelson.