Plastics processor Blackwell Plastics LLP has filed a lawsuit against Texas Injection Molding LLC, a firm that includes several former Blackwell employees.
In the suit — filed April 3 in 151st Judicial District Court in Houston — Blackwell Plastics claims that TIM and employees Jeff Applegate, Luis Vela, Michael Keown, Jason Mann and Scott Kelley are using information that they obtained while working at Blackwell. TIM and the employees have caused Blackwell to lose sales and business opportunities as a result, according to the suit. Blackwell officials are seeking both injunctions and damages against TIM.
In a May 28 court filing, TIM officials denied the Blackwell allegations and asked that the case be dismissed. They claim that Blackwell Chairman L.D. Blackwell did not follow through on an agreement to sell his firm to Applegate. That led Applegate to start his own firm, according to the filing.
No court dates have been set. Blackwell was founded in 1939 and does injection molding and extrusion work for aerospace, energy, industrial and other markets.
Applegate formed TIM in December 2013 after buying and renaming Houston injection molder B-Side Plastics Inc. He had served as Blackwell Plastics' president since 2003.
TIM now employs 65 and operates 15 injection molding machines, making parts for medical, energy, electronic and other markets.