RICHARD J. LEON, United States District Judge
Plaintiff Economic Research Services ("plaintiff" or "ERS") commenced the instant action against defendants Resolution Economics LLC ("Resolution"), Paul White ("White"), and Ali Saad (collectively, "defendants") in August 2015. ERS alleges, in a thirteen-count Verified Complaint, that White, a former employee, violated the terms of his employment agreement by disseminating ERS's confidential information and by luring ERS's clients and employees to its regional competitor, Resolution Economics. See Verified Compl. [Dkt. #1]. Eager to stop the exodus of clients and personnel, ERS sought a preliminary injunction to enjoin defendants from purloining
Plaintiff ERS provides economic research and statistical analysis for corporations and law firms in a variety of disciplines, including employment discrimination, fair lending, insurance coverage, and intellectual property. See Compl. ¶ 19.
Before his move to Resolution, defendant White was a demonstrably important part of ERS's Washington, D.C. Labor and Employment practice. White began his twenty-two year stint at ERS in 1993, when he was hired as an Economist. Compl. ¶¶ 21, 25. He thereafter moved up the ranks, receiving a promotion to Vice President in 1998 before ultimately becoming a Managing Director in the Washington, D.C. office of ERS's Labor and Employment group in 2010. Compl. 21, 25. As a condition of his employment, White signed numerous contracts with ERS, the most recent of which was consummated on June 29, 2015 (the "2015 Employment Agreement" or the "Agreement"). Compl. Ex. 3 [Dkt. #1-3]; see Compl. ¶¶ 28-32; see also Compl. Ex. 1 [Dkt. #1-1]; Compl. Ex. 2 [Dkt. #1-2]. The 2015 Employment Agreement contains several restrictive covenants, only a few of which are relevant here. First, the Agreement bars Directors from disclosing ERS's confidential information to third parties at any time
On July 6, 2015, shortly after signing the 2015 Employment Agreement, White resigned his position at ERS and, effective July 17, 2015, left to manage Resolution's nascent Washington, D.C. office. Compl. 38-39; Compl. Ex. 4 [Dkt. #1-4]. After apprising ERS of his resignation, but shortly before leaving ERS, White generated a list of the clients he had serviced during his tenure at ERS. White Decl. 43. While ERS contends that White's actions were tantamount to misappropriation, defendants maintain that there is nothing untoward about reverse-engineering, as White purportedly did here, a client list from memory. Indeed, White avers that he compiled the offending list "one evening at home" by jotting down the "contacts that [he] had at [client] law firms, public agencies and in-house legal and human resources departments." White Decl. ¶ 43. Where his memory failed, White supplemented the list by combing through his LinkedIn contacts and performing targeted Internet searches. White Decl. ¶ 43. For a number of the clients on his list, White included email addresses that he either recalled from memory or located through publicly-available sources. White Decl. ¶ 43. White then tendered the list to Resolution, which conducted its own searches to find, and catalogue, the email addresses of the remaining clients whose contact information White was unable to independently verify. Hurtado Decl. ¶ 5 [Dkt. #19-3]. Thereafter, on July 17, 2015, Resolution emailed the individuals on White's reconstructed list, announcing that White would be joining Resolution as a Partner and furnishing his updated contact information. Compl. ¶¶ 42, 46; Compl. Ex. 5 [Dkt. #1-5]. According to ERS,
This exodus was not limited to ERS's clients. In the wake of White's resignation, several other members of ERS's Washington, D.C. Labor and Employment group, all of whom had worked for White, quit their jobs at ERS and joined Resolution.
ERS commenced this suit on August 10, 2015, alleging breach of contract in addition to numerous commercial torts. See generally Compl. That same day, eager to stymie the torrent of client and personnel defections, ERS moved to enjoin defendants from "the use [of] ERS's confidential information" and from "recruiting ERS employees or soliciting business from ERS's clients." Mot. for TRO & Prelim. Inj.; Pl.'s Mem. Defendants timely opposed this request. See Defs.' Mem. I heard oral argument on ERS's Motion on August 31, 2015, see August 31, 2015 Minute Entry, and received supplemental briefing from both sides on September 14, 2015, see Plaintiff's Supplemental Memorandum of Law in Further Support of Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Dkt. # 27]; Defendants' Supplemental Brief in Further Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction ("Defs.' Suppl. Mem.") [Dkt. # 28].
A preliminary injunction is an "extraordinary remedy" that "should be granted only when the party seeking the relief, by a clear showing, carries the burden of persuasion." Cobell v. Norton, 391 F.3d 251, 258 (D.C.Cir.2004) (citation omitted). Ordinarily, a plaintiff seeking such a remedy must demonstrate "that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest."
Our Circuit Court has articulated a "high standard for irreparable injury." See Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches, 454 F.3d at 297. To meet this threshold, the plaintiff's injury must be "both certain and great" and, in all events, beyond remuneration. Wisc. Gas Co. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 758 F.2d 669, 674 (D.C.Cir.1985) (per curiam). Imminence is key to this inquiry, and vague or threadbare allegations of future harm simply will not garner injunctive relief. Id. Nor, for that matter, will harms of a purely economic nature. Wis. Gas. Co., 758 F.2d at 674 ("[I]t is well settled that economic loss does not, in and of itself, constitute irreparable harm." (citation omitted)). Indeed, because "[m]ere injuries, however substantial, in terms of money, time and energy" are not enough to meet the threshold for irreparable harm, a preliminary injunction will only issue when the injury is utterly, and entirely, beyond compensatory relief. Sampson, 415 U.S. at 90, 94 S.Ct. 937 (quoting Va. Petrol. Jobbers Ass'n v. FPC, 259 F.2d 921 (1958)). Unfortunately for ERS, the Court is unpersuaded that it has, or will, suffer harm of this magnitude.
ERS contends that it faces "immediate and irreparable harm [from] the unauthorized... and threatened use of its confidential and proprietary information and the continued targeting of its customers and employees." Pl.'s Mem. at 18. Even assuming, arguendo, that these allegations are true,
ERS argues in the alternative that its injury, even if economic, is irreparable because it threatens ERS's existence. I disagree. "Recoverable monetary loss may constitute irreparable harm" but "only where the loss threatens the very existence of the movant's business." See Wis. Gas Co., 758 F.2d at 674 (emphasis added). The universe of harms that meet this litmus test is narrow indeed, and courts in this Circuit have been unwilling to find irreparable economic injury where the plaintiff's business remains robust and its employees' livelihoods unaffected. See, e.g., Express One Int'l, Inc. v. United States Postal Serv., 814 F.Supp. 87, 91 (D.D.C.1992) (finding irreparable injury where the monetary loss would cause significant capital costs and employee lay-offs); McGregor Printing Corp. v. Kemp, Civ.A. No. 91-3255(GHR), 1992 WL 118794, at *5 (D.D.C. May 14, 1992) (finding that "the irretrievable monetary loss to [plaintiff] in combination with the loss in employment to [plaintiff's] employees" amounted to irreparable harm). The case law, as such, is abundantly clear: to prevail, ERS must marshal "a strong showing" that the damage to its business is "above and beyond a simple diminution in profits." See Mylan Pharms., Inc. v. Shalala, 81 F.Supp.2d 30, 43 (D.D.C.2000). Unfortunately for ERS, it has not done so here.
Given the size and prominence of ERS's parent corporation, and the apparent strength of its own infrastructure, this Court has no reason to believe that ERS's alleged losses threaten the company's very existence. See Ajilon Prof'l Staffing, PLC v. Kubicki, 503 F.Supp.2d 358, 362 & n. 6 (D.D.C.2007) (Leon, J.) (declining to find irreparable harm where the plaintiff, itself a sizeable corporation, was a subsidiary of one of the "world's largest human resource solution providers"). As defendants point out in their supplemental brief, ERS is a subsidiary of a global corporation: Source-HOV. Defs.' Suppl. Mem. at 3; White Decl. ¶ 7; Saad Decl. ¶ 3. ERS, eager to disclaim the importance of this relationship, contends that its connection to SourceHOV is "irrelevant" because "[a]ny harm suffered by ERS as a result of Defendants' conduct cannot be undone by SourceHOV." Pl.'s Suppl. Mem. at 10. The Court is well aware that SourceHOV cannot reverse history. What SourceHOV can do, however, is furnish the capital necessary to help ERS recoup its losses. The Court notes, moreover, that ERS is itself a mature player in the consulting industry, having amassed offices in Florida, California, and Washington, D.C. certain of which boast larger Labor and Employment groups than its Washington, D.C. office had prior to the onset of this litigation. See Defs.' Suppl. Mem. at 3. It is difficult for the Court to conclude on the basis of these facts that the departure of ten employees, and the defection of clients serviced by
For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS defendants' Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Reply Brief and Declarations and DENIES plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in its entirety. An Order consistent with this decision accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.