Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) today provided information on litigation
filed by Berkeley HeartLab, Inc. (“BHL”), Celera’s wholly-owned
subsidiary, against Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. and several
former employees of BHL, including five sales representatives who left
the Company on January 1, 2010, and two former laboratory employees. BHL
has filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief and damages in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In
the litigation, BHL has asserted a number of contractual, tort and
statutory claims against the defendants, including claims for
misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with BHL’s
client relationships. The defendants’ activities have been concentrated
in the Southeast, which historically has been the highest-volume sales
territory for BHL.
The Court issued a temporary restraining order in this matter which,
among other things, restricted the individual sales representative
defendants from soliciting certain BHL physician clients and imposed
restrictions on the defendants from soliciting BHL employees for
employment. The temporary restraining order was replaced by a consent
order agreed to by the parties that remains in effect until trial, which
is scheduled for May 10-12, 2010. BHL and the defendants have
participated in mediation and continue to assess settlement alternatives.