Simmons Files Injunction Lawsuit to Prohibit Former Employee from Joining Competitor

On the 28th, Simmons announced that it recently filed a preliminary injunction against former employee A, who left the company in January and joined Ilum Slowbed, at the Seoul Central District Court.

Simmons requires employees in production and research and development (R&D) departments directly related to the company's core technologies to sign a pledge not to join competing companies or leak company secrets for a certain period after resignation. Simmons judged that A violated this agreement and applied for the preliminary injunction.

Until his resignation, A worked for the past three years in the Quality Management Department of the Production Logistics Strategy Division, managing Simmons' core technologies such as product processes and raw materials up close.

At the time of his resignation, he signed and submitted a pledge to the company to maintain confidentiality of key technologies related to bed manufacturing and not to join competing companies for the next two years. Previously, he had also signed the same pledge when renewing his annual salary contract at the end of last year.

While working at Simmons, A was responsible for product process inspections and finished product inspections, managing inspection manuals and standards, inspecting incoming raw materials, evaluating suppliers, and establishing and executing product quality verification plans.

Simmons plans to take additional legal action against another employee who acquired key knowledge related to Simmons' major facilities and patents and then moved to a competing company.

A Simmons representative said, "While we respect individual decisions to change jobs, violations by some production-related employees who signed confidentiality agreements disregard the hard work of colleagues who have worked together and could further lead to intellectual property infringement. Simmons' core technologies, including flame-retardant mattresses, are directly linked to the quality unique to Simmons, built on long-standing know-how and teamwork."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.