Apple sued by electric car battery maker for poaching employees

Apple is now facing a lawsuit from an electric car battery company following allegations that Apple poached its top engineers. A123 systems is claiming that Apple has been “systematically hiring away its high-tech PhD and engineering employees”, according to the court filing.

This claim comes right after rumors began suggesting that Apple is building its own electric cars, a rumor that now has a bit of credibility. Apparently Apple began taking away A123's employees in June last year, the company claims to have emails from five former A123 employees and Apple's hiring staff. These emails were found after the give left the company under “suspicious circumstances”.

A123 Systems has built car battery packs for manufacturers like Chrysler and Chevrolet in the past. The company hasn't had such a great time in recent years, back in 2012, the company actually filed for bankruptcy but has since recovered with 2014 being its best year for revenue in the company's history.

The five employees that left A123 for Apple were apparently so critical to future plans that several unfinished projects had to be shut down once they left, which is a testament to the talent Apple has snapped up here. This doesn't prove that Apple is working on electric car technology but it does give previous rumors some credibility.

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KitGuru Says: Apple gets lawsuits all of the time and has a habit of dragging them out over years so it is unlikely that we will see an end to this case any time soon. However, it does have me wondering why Apple wants to get in to the electric car field itself. 

Via: The Verge

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