A Borgata Atlantic City executive who switched jobs to the city’s Ocean casino resort must turn over a personal phone for examination, a federal judge has ruled.
The examination will look to see if William Callahan had copied Borgata customer data or internal information from the casino before switching jobs. Callahan is accused of taking such information on the Borgata’s top customers.
U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro has already ordered Callahan to turn over his Borgata-issued phone. The new ruling covers an additional phone.
Navarro also ruled that another former Borgata exec, Kelly Ashman Burke, cannot continue to work for Ocean in her current capacity. Burke was ordered to destroy any copies she or Ocean may have of Borgata’s 2020 marketing strategies.
However, Navarro said she was not granting permission for Borgata to engage in “a fishing expedition” on Callahan’s second phone and that the casino must identify ahead of time any customer whose information it believes may be stored on the device.
She also ordered Callahan to turn over any forensic copies that may exist of either of the phones at issue; his personal computers, any devices linked to his Apple iCloud account or other cloud‐based storage account, and the log‐in credentials for his cloud‐based storage programs that may contain trade secrets, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
“We are pleased with the court’s decisions and we look forward to continuing our efforts to protect our business,” said Debra DeShong, a spokesperson for Borgata’s parent company, MGM Resorts International according to CDC Gaming Reports. “We appreciate that the court took into consideration the hundreds of employees at Borgata and the economic damage that could have been done had these individuals been permitted to misappropriate customer information and other trade secrets in violation of their employment agreements and while working for a competing casino.”
Borgata has filed a lawsuit accusing Ocean of poaching several of its marketing executives in an attempt to “cripple” the casino by using secret details about its best and most profitable customers.
Ocean Casino Resort said in a press statement that it is “satisfied with the decision, which allows Mr. Callahan to continue his work in our hotel operations, as we tirelessly improve the experience for our loyal guests.”
“As to the decision regarding Ms. Burke, the order prevents her from working within the marketing department. We are currently considering other roles for Ms. Burke on the Ocean team,” the statement said. “Both Bill and Kelly are invaluable executives, and we are looking forward to a bright future with them.”
