Apple settles with former employee accused of stealing trade secrets

The company accused Simon Lancaster of stealing trade secrets and sharing them with a journalist. A judge approved the settlement order for the company's suit this week.

Despite over a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster abused his position and trust within the company to distribute Apple's trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits. He gained access to internal meetings and documents outside of his job responsibilities, and he gave these trade secrets to his outside media correspondent.

According to Apple's complaint, Lancaster and the unnamed correspondent first made contact in November of last year, and the company accused Lancaster of sharing information about upcoming product announcements with the correspondent. According to Apple, Lancaster downloaded confidential documents just before he left the company. He left Arris in 2021.

According to the order, Lancaster will pay an undisclosed sum to Apple and will not be allowed to use or disclose any confidential information without Apple's permission. Apple and Lancaster did not respond to the request for comment.