Apple is being sued for poaching engineering talent from electric car battery manufacturer A123 Systems.
The suit, initially filed last month in a Massachusetts federal court, is now with a Boston court and claims Apple enticed top engineers from A123 Systems, as well as Tesla, in its quest to build an electric car. A123 builds lithium-ion batteries and, as of 2012, filed for bankruptcy.
"Apple is currently developing a large-scale battery division to compete in the very same field as A123," the lawsuit stated.
The news comes on the heels of reports earlier this week that Apple is investigating building a driverless car and looking to compete with Google on the self-driving car front.
As Tech Times reported, the claims about Apple moving into the car business was met with skepticism from former GM CEO Dan Akerson.
Akerson said the news appears to be a "hairball" report and shareholders should not be happy about the move if it proves true.
One news report said several A123 engineers have already left the company to work for Apple. Several were supposedly working on top critical projects, stated the lawsuit.
According to news reports, Apple has not commented on the legal action and neither has A123. In addition to suing Apple for poaching employees, the lawsuit also targets five ex-employees for violating non-disclosure agreements by going to work for Apple. One of the five is Mujeeb Ijaz who, A123 claims, helped Apple hire the engineers.
"It appears that Apple, with the assistance of defendant Ijaz, is systematically hiring away A123's high-tech PhD and engineering employees, thereby effectively shutting down various projects/programs at A123," stated the lawsuit.
A123 Systems reportedly has about 2,000 workers and was founded in 2001. The battery maker claims it is the top lithium-ion hybrid system maker for transit buses in the world.
A quick scan of A123's website career opportunities page reveals it is looking to hire over a dozen specialized engineers as well as a few scientists. One is a development engineer who would serve as a "key team member in an aggressive effort to develop and commercialize next-generation lithium-ion batteries with advanced electrolytes."
In January, Apple posted a job ad on LinkedIn seeking a "highly motivated engineer" with five years experience for its OS Car Experience team.
