Superior Business Management, Inc., Superior Tax Solutions, LLC, and Kris Benson v. Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP D/B/A MGO LLP, MGO Group LLC, MGO India Private Limited, Danielle Berg, Individually and as an Agent for Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP, Anthony “Tony” Smalls, III, individually and as a Partner of Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP, Melany Diaz, Danielle Marrazzo, and Natalie Enger, Civil Action No. 1:22-cv-02861-VMC (N.D. Ga.)

Its may not reach the level of this summer’s Braves vs. Mets rivalry, but an Atlanta-based consulting firm to wealthy individuals suing a business rival and a number of former employees for misappropriation of trade secrets. The complaint was filed on July 20, 2022 in the Northern District of Georgia.

Superior Business Management and its subsidiary, Superior Tax Solutions, are owned by former Major League Baseball star Kris Benson. According to the complaint, Superior provides “business management and tax solutions to high-net worth companies and/or individuals” and in eight years of business, has carved out a successful niche in this market.

MGO LLP is a direct competitor looking to expand into the Atlanta market. The complaint alleges that Smalls, then working as Superior’s Managing Director, provided trade secrets and proprietary information about Superior’s operations to MGO—without his employer’s knowledge. MGO allegedly offered Smalls a partnership agreement in return.

Once he joined MGO, Smalls allegedly sought to poach Superior’s clients using this proprietary information, according to the complaint. MGO also hired a number of key Superior employees to establish its Atlanta office, and these employees (who are named as co-defendants) allegedly funneled proprietary information from Superior to MGO before they switched employers. This information included confidential tax and business information on thousands of clients, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs even allege that two of the defendants snuck into Superior’s offices after their termination in order to take various company files.

The plaintiffs are seeking a judgement against the defendants for trade secret misappropriation, as well as permanent injunctive relief to prevent the defendants from using the proprietary information it may have gained.