Rich Rabin Quoted in The Wall Street Journal on Arbitration Ruling in Bridgewater Case
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The Wall Street Journal has quoted Akin Gump labor and employment partner Rich Rabin in the article “Bridgewater Loses Claims It Brought Against Ex-Employees Who Launched Hedge Fund.” The article reports on an arbitration dispute that Bridgewater Associates LP, the world’s largest hedge fund, had brought against two former investment employees who started their own fund.
According to the Journal, Bridgewater initiated the case about four years after the employees left Bridgewater in 2013. While the article says Bridgewater argued claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breaches of contract and unfair competition, a three-arbitrator panel found that Bridgewater had fabricated and withheld evidence and disregarded its own records in pursuing its claims.
While the arbitration case is said to have involved almost two years of discovery, eight days of hearings and numerous post-hearing briefings, Rabin said the decision appeared to be less significant than one invalidating or limiting the scope of a contract between a firm and former employees. Those decisions, he said, can have broader implications because the same terms likely govern many other employees.
