Lawsuit: Fired VP stole, shared sandwich spread recipes

GREENVILLE, S.C. – A South Carolina-based company founded by the woman who created Duke’s Mayonnaise has filed a lawsuit claiming its former vice-president of sales stole recipes to help a competitor.

News outlets report Duke Foods filed the lawsuit in Greenville County against Wyatt Howard. The lawsuit says Howard was fired May 31.

Howard is accused in the lawsuit of sending recipe and pricing information to his personal email when he was fired. The lawsuit claims he then shared the information with Paris, Tennessee-based Knott’s Fine Foods.

The recipe for Duke’s Mayonnaise was sold to C. F. Sauer Co. in 1929. Howard is accused of stealing recipes for other spreads.

There hasn’t been a response so far for requests for comment from Howard and Knott’s Fine Foods.