Flex Finance has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that a former chief financial officer candidate misappropriated trade secrets and shared them with a competitor, according to a court filing. Flex first filed its complaint against Anderson and the rival payment company on Aug. 3, alleging Anderson had taken advantage of information gained during his Flex interview process to pass on trade secrets.
Legal Proceedings and Motion to Dismiss
The motion for dismissal, refiled Tuesday at the request of the court to address certain errors, asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to dismiss claims filed in early August against defendants Split Pay and Alex Anderson – a finance executive who previously interviewed for Flex’s CFO seat. According to the Monday dismissal motion, defendants “represent that Flex Confidential Information was not shared by Mr. Anderson with anyone at Split Pay and agree that Flex Confidential Information will not be shared with anyone at Split Pay,” the filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York states. The court is set to review the motion.
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Alleged Trade Secret Misappropriation
Flex’s original complaint alleged that Anderson exploited information gained during his interview process to pass on trade secrets to Split Pay, where he was simultaneously interviewing for the same role. The lawsuit specifically cited the alleged sharing of the Flex Margin Model, described as the company’s most sensitive financial model, and a confidential memo addressed to Flex’s board. These allegations were detailed in a report by CFO Dive.
Anderson, who previously held finance roles at Cash App and Block, is now listed as Split Pay’s CFO on the company’s website and LinkedIn profile, having taken the role in August. Split Pay announced his hiring on September 9, shortly after both parties informed the court they were working to resolve the suit.
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Forensic Investigation and Current Status
Following the complaint, the court under Judge Margaret M. Garnett approved a third-party forensic accountant to review Anderson’s personal devices, cloud and email accounts to find and preserve any confidential information as previously defined under his non-disclosure agreement with Flex. The order also required affidavits from Anderson and Split Pay’s co-founder and CEO Andrew Borovsky confirming they had not accessed or received confidential information. As of August 31, Flex had received affidavits from Borovsky and the forensic vendor.
According to the Monday dismissal request, Split and Anderson represent that the forensic vendor has deleted any confidential information as defined under the NDA “based on its reasonable investigation and discussions with Mr. Anderson,” from his personal computer, email and devices. Split and Anderson denied any wrongdoing associated with the Aug. 3 allegations, according to the Monday dismissal motion. The defendants also noted that confidential information had not been and would not be shared with Split, according to the motion.
