Is it "criminal" that while an employee of "Company A" employee decided to start their own business "Company B"As a full time employee of "C...

Question

Is it "criminal" that while an employee of "Company A" employee decided to start their own business "Company B"

As a full time employee of "Company A" employee solicited potential customers of "Company A" and sold a competing product from the new "Company B"

The client was was not immediately made aware of the newly formed "Company B" and may have believed they were still purchasing a product from "Company A"

Customer was invoiced electronically from "Company B" under a different company name although "Company B" has a very similar name to "Company A".

Thank you in advance and we look forward to your responses.

Answer

Not likely criminal. However, you may have a cause of action against the former employee and the business for interference with a business relationship. This is why you should have employees sign a non-compete agreement.