IBM sues to halt Microsoft hiring of diversity chief

International Business Machines Corp. has called foul on Microsoft Corp.’s hiring of its chief diversity officer in a case that elevates recruiting and promotion of an inclusive workforce to the level of safeguarding proprietary technology.

IBM claims the information that Lindsay-Rae McIntyre possesses — including confidential data about diversity, strategies and initiatives — can cause “real and immediate competitive harm” if she’s allowed to move immediately to Microsoft. IBM on Monday sued to enforce a one-year noncompetition agreement.

While the lawsuit highlights the contention that can ensue when a senior employee bolts for a rival, it also shines a light on the increasing role that diversity measures play in corporate America. Technology and financial companies have fought over employees who possessed key technical or strategic knowledge, not those entrusted to make decisions on hiring and the makeup of the workforce.

In court filings, McIntyre’s lawyers responded that IBM is wrongly seeking to enforce an “overbroad” noncompetition clause against an employee who has taken no confidential information.

“IBM surprisingly seeks a draconian temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent McIntyre from working — for an entire year, in any position, anywhere in the world, for any company IBM deems to be a ‘competitor’ in any dimension,” her attorneys said.

U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti temporarily barred McIntyre from moving to Microsoft, over her attorneys’ objections, and scheduled a conference for Feb. 22.

“McIntyre was at the center of highly confidential and competitively sensitive information that has fueled IBM’s success” in diversity and inclusion, the company said in a statement. “While we understand Microsoft’s need to deal with mounting criticism of its record on diversity, IBM intends to fully enforce Ms. McIntyre’s non-compete agreement to protect our competitive information.”

In its complaint, filed Monday in federal court in White Plains, N.Y., IBM pointed to Microsoft’s own attempts to keep details about its diversity efforts secret. In a separate lawsuit, in which Microsoft is accused of discriminating against women in technical and engineering roles, the Redmond, Wash.-based company insisted that internal communications and documents about its diversity data and strategies be filed under seal because they’re so sensitive.

Noncompetition clauses are common in the technology industry, said Evan Starr, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

“Many companies, especially in the tech industry, they have these contracts that are signed by almost everybody,” Starr said.

Microsoft announced Sunday that it had hired McIntyre, who spent more than two decades at IBM. She held executive positions including vice president in human resources before being named IBM’s chief diversity officer and vice president of leadership succession planning in 2015.

McIntyre oversaw teams responsible for developing artificial intelligence-based tools and methods used to track career development, recommend growth and promotion opportunities and measure diversity metrics, IBM said.

The mother of three young children and the primary earner in her household, McIntyre sought and accepted the Microsoft role partially because it would allow her to relocate her family from New York to Washington, which is a few hours from her parents and other relatives, her attorneys said.