Rs 2.6 Crore case Court judgment
By Amlan Mohanty

Ajuba describes itself as ‘a premier global provider of healthcare revenue cycle outsourcing services to healthcare systems, hospitals, academic medical centers, durable medical equipment suppliers, and billing and receivables management companies’.  Headquartered in North Carolina, USA, it employs more than 1800 workers and has one of its Operational Centers in Chennai, India.

Over the years, it has won a swag of awards.  In 2010, it was ranked amongst “India’s Top 10 Best Companies to Work For” and “No.1 in the ITES Industry” by Great Places to Work Institute and Economic Times.  It has been ranked among “The Top BPO Employers in India” by IDC Dataquest three years in a row – 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Ajuba Solutions (India) had recently filed a suit for damages claiming a sum of Rs.2,60,00,000/- against 17 of its ex-employees who held high positions in the company and thus had access to plaintiff's proprietary and confidential information, as well as 3 full time consultants with the company. It was alleged that these 20 individuals colluded together to start a competing business by the name of Adroit Global Solutions India Private Limited after gaining access to sensitive data and trade secrets.

The suit has been filed on multiple counts relating to intellectual property rights violations as well as publication of false and defamatory content against the company. It was also alleged that they were attempting to induce Ajuba’s clients and employees from terminating their respective contracts with the company.

A host of other contentions were advanced by Ajuba Solutions and evidence of varying nature was presented to the court. But the court did not accept any of its arguments. It held that there was no proof that any false or defamatory statements were made against Ajuba Solutions. More importantly, it held that the employment contracts of these individuals were terminated validly and the resignation was accepted by them as well. As regards inducing Ajuba’s clients to terminate their contracts, the court observed that they were non-exclusive and hence this contention too was without merit. The court also accepted the evidence of the defendants that all new hirings were made through advertisements and were not induced from Ajuba to join the company.

Thus, it was made clear that the allegations made by Ajuba Solutions were vague and it could not establish that it had suffered any damages and the court dismissed the suit entirely. The entire decision is available here.