A Delta airlines pilot is suing his employer for $1 Billion. He claims they stole an app he created with his own money and time.
Captain Craig Alexander developed a messaging app called QrewLive for helping with in-flight crew communications.
Mr Alexander says he pitched the app to Delta management, who, after allegedly expressing interest, ultimately turned him down before releasing a similar app of its own according to ArsTechnica.
The pilot claims he worked on the project on his own time and spent $100,000 of his own money to create the app. He says he had several meetings with Delta about the app in 2015 and 2016 in which executives allegedly showed interest in acquiring the software.
However afterf 2016, Delta stopped communicating with Alexander about the app, and in April 2018, the airline released its own app, called Flight Family Communications.
It’s difficult to say at this stage if Mr Alexander will be successful in his lawsuit as many employers have app development clauses and conflict of interest clauses in employee contracts limiting what is and is not allowed to be developed outside work.
The case that alleges the “theft of trade secrets” was filed in Georgia State court.
It’s always important to read the small print, before you go off spending $10ok on an app and presenting it to your employer!
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