Allegiance Trucks, a franchised bus and truck dealership that once had a location in Falmouth, has accused a competitor and former employee of misappropriating confidential business information, according to a complaint filed in Maine Superior Court in August.

Those “trade secrets” were then used by the competitor, DATTCO, to convert Allegiance Trucks’ customers, according to the filing. Allegiance Trucks is asking for relief in the form of monetary damages, and an injunction prohibiting the defendants from using the confidential information, among other requests.

Allegiance Trucks alleges that a former employee, Craig Smith, accessed the company’s internal database that stores prospective and current customer information, sales data and other information prior to leaving to work for DATTCO, a bus sales company based in Connecticut, and then again once he was employed with DATTCO. 

In June 2023, DATTCO purchased a former Allegiance Trucks facility at 110 Gray Road in Falmouth. DeVivo Bus Sales, a subsidiary of the parts, services and sales division of DATTCO, set up shop at the location.

Both Allegiance Trucks and DATTCO, through its subsidiary, do truck repairs and truck part sales, making them competitors in this realm.

Smith has been employed as a sales representative with DeVivo Bus Sales since May 2024, according to his LinkedIn page and court filings. He worked at Allegiance Trucks from September 2023 to May 2024.

Allegiance Trucks argues that DATTCO was able to convert “a number of customer accounts belonging to Allegiance Trucks, which would not have been possible to do in such a short period of time using proper means.”

DATTCO has denied this and countered that any information from the Allegiance Trucks’ internal database does not constitute “trade secrets,” and that any information taken by Smith was not done at the behest of DATTCO.

The defendants argue that DeVivo is doing well at the 110 Gray Road location because they’ve invested in business relationships and sales efforts, not due to any unlawful behavior, according to a September filing. The defendants say that Allegiance Trucks’ lawsuit is an attempt to stifle competition in a free marketplace.

According to the plaintiff, DATTCO hired many of Allegiance’s former employees and has “falsely represented … that it is a continuation of the Allegiance Trucks facility.” DATTCO denies this. However, DATTCO does admit that it hired former Allegiance employees, and that Smith accessed his former employer’s internal database “on or after the day of his termination.”

Allegiance Trucks also takes issue with the fact that it allegedly was not disclosed at the time of the facility’s sale that it was DATTCO purchasing the property. Online property records list the buyer as 110 Gray Road Realty. DATTCO has countered in court that the purchase of 110 Gray Road does not constitute fraud.

The complaint – a civil action – accuses DATTCO of a number of violations, including tortious interference with advantageous business relations, unjust enrichment, and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty. Smith is separately accused of breach of fiduciary duty. Both Smith and DATTCO are accused of misappropriating trade secrets in violation of the Maine Uniform Trade Secrets Act.

Both parties have asked for a jury trial.

The suit was originally filed in Maine Superior Court, and then briefly moved over to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine because the defendants argued the federal court had jurisdiction over the case.

Later, in mid-September, Allegiance Trucks’ counsel asked — with the defendants’ assent – to move the case back to Cumberland Superior Court, and the court agreed.

As of Oct. 9, there have been no new substantive filings in the case since the judge’s order to hand the case back to state court, according to Gregory Bombard, a shareholder with the law firm Greenberg Traurig, which is representing Allegiance Trucks in court.

“We believe the allegations of the complaint are very strong and that discovery in the case is likely to reveal additional facts that support the allegations of the complaint,” wrote Bombard when asked for comment.

In court filings, Allegiance Trucks lists its counsel as Diana Balluku of Greenberg Traurig. Bombard is assisting with the case, he told The Forecaster. DATTCO’s counsel is Mark Perkins of the firm Devine Millimet.

Perkins did not respond to a call or email seeking comment. Craig Smith also did not return a call requesting his comment.