Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedic business, DePuy Synthes, has sued a former national spine sales leader following his move to Medtronic, alleging he violated a secrecy agreement and stock award agreements intended to protect confidential business information and customer relationships.
The lawsuit was filed Nov. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Alexander Ryder, who most recently served as national capital leader for DePuy Synthes’ spine business, overseeing national sales of its robotics and digital surgery platforms.
Mr. Ryder left DePuy Synthes Oct. 16 and joined Medtronic Oct. 19 as a business development sales representative focused on its Advanced Energy portfolio, according to court documents. DePuy alleges the Advanced Energy title is a pretext.
DePuy alleges Medtronic assured it in writing the morning of Nov. 2 that Mr. Ryder would not participate in activities involving its spine technologies, yet he attended the Congress of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting with Medtronic’s team that day. Medtronic’s counsel later wrote that Mr. Ryder was being removed from the conference, which DePuy says came only after it made clear it would sue.
The company also alleges Mr. Ryder, on behalf of Medtronic, contacted the lead physician at a Gulf Coast health system reviewing DePuy’s VELYS robotic system for purchase.
DePuy is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. It asks the court to bar Mr. Ryder for 18 months from his departure date from working for Medtronic in any role involving spine, enabling technologies, surgical navigation, imaging or robotic products, or any role where he could use DePuy’s confidential information or customer relationships to benefit Medtronic.
The allegations have not been adjudicated. Medtronic is not named as a defendant.
Becker’s has reached out to Mr. Ryder and Medtronic for comment and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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