Scooter startup Lime sues Hertz for poaching engineers, improperly downloading files

Urban scooter company Lime sued Hertz Corp. in the California federal court seeking unspecified monetary damages and an injunction" alleging unfair competition and poaching its senior engineers.

Lime provides short-term e-bike and scooter rentals in about 30 countries.

The San Francisco-based Lime, which is registered as Neutron Holdings Inc, also named Charlie Fang, who previously was Lime's senior vice president and head of engineering, and Kai Cong, its former head of supply engineering, as defendants.

Lime claimed that Fang, who joined Hertz last year, violated his employment agreement to not solicit former colleagues after leaving the company.

The lawsuit also claimed Cong improperly downloaded confidential Lime files before his departure in December.

According to Hertz, it "vehemently disagrees with the claims made in the lawsuit."

With the loss of engineers, Lime said it now faces "staff shortages, recruiting costs, and critical project delays."

The complaint added that Hertz sought to "capitalize" on Fang and his team's knowledge of building "back-end infrastructure for ride-sharing and consumer-facing apps so that it could gain a competitive advantage over other companies."