## Facts

- Burbank Grease Services, LLC collected and processed used restaurant fryer grease, grease-trap waste, and industrial grease, serving thousands of customers.
- Larry Sokolowski worked for Burbank (1997–2001) and left to work for a competitor, United Liquid Waste Recycling, Inc.
- Before resigning, Sokolowski accessed Burbank’s computers and copied customer lists, pricing, and revenue/collection data without permission.
- Sokolowski later helped form United Grease, LLC, which competed directly with Burbank.
- Using the copied information, Sokolowski solicited Burbank’s customers and allegedly diverted many of them.
- In the litigation, Burbank did not challenge the determination that the information failed to qualify as a “trade secret” under Wis. Stat. § 134.90(1)(c).

## Issues

1. Whether Wis. Stat. § 134.90(6) displaces common-law civil claims based on misappropriation of confidential information that does not meet the statutory definition of a trade secret.
2. Whether Wis. Stat. § 943.70(2) covers an employee’s copying and later misuse of data that the employee was authorized to access.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
- It held that Wis. Stat. § 134.90(6) does not preempt all other civil remedies for misappropriation of confidential information when the information is not a statutory trade secret, allowing Burbank’s common-law claims (including breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting) to proceed.
- It held that Wis. Stat. § 943.70(2) does not reach later misuse of data that was lawfully accessed, affirming dismissal of the computer-crime-based claim.

## Legal Principles

- Wis. Stat. § 134.90(6)(a) displaces only conflicting civil remedies for “misappropriation of a trade secret,” not for misappropriation of confidential information that fails the statutory trade-secret definition.
- Wis. Stat. § 134.90(6)(b) preserves other civil remedies that are not based on misappropriation of a trade secret, including claims targeting misuse of non-trade-secret confidential information.
- Wis. Stat. § 943.70(2) targets unauthorized access to computer data (or exceeding authorized access); lawful access followed by improper copying or use does not, without more, satisfy the statute’s “without authorization” requirement.

## Conclusion

The court limited UTSA-based preemption in Wisconsin to claims involving statutory trade secrets, permitting common-law claims for misappropriation of confidential but non-trade-secret information, while holding that the computer crimes statute does not apply where an employee had authorized access to the copied data.


Burbank Grease Servs., LLC v. Sokolowski, 717 N.W.2d 781 (Wis. 2006)