Nykaa, the beauty and fashion retailer, has filed a lawsuit against its former chief business officer (CBO) Gopal Asthana, accusing him of breaching confidentiality, misappropriating propriety data and attempting to harm the company's business. This is as per the Economic Times.
It is alleged that Gopal Asthana, who currently heads Tata Digital's fashion business, Tata Cliq, approached several Nykaa staff members who worked under him to join Tata Cliq and some have reportedly made the switch over the past year.
Nykaa, in the petition filed in the Bombay High Court, stated that Asthana received huge remuneration, including long-term incentives and stock options.
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The petition stated that Asthana, a chief executive in Tata's ecommerce venture, was the CBO at Nykaa for four years and was also on the company's board. The high position held by Asthana in the company made him privy to confidential business data.
Asthana reportedly said the allegations were in his view "incorrect and they will be established in arbitration".
The high court of Bombay reportedly passed an interim order directing Asthana not to engage in hiring executives for Tata Cliq from Nykaa.
Nykaa, led by CEO Falguni Nayar, has not made Tata Digital a party to the petition as per reports.
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Nykaa reportedly sought the High Court a refund of Rs 19 crore of employee stock option benefits availed by him with another Rs 5 crore citing loss of goodwill and other business metrics.
It also pleaded in the court to restrain Gopal Asthana from using any Nykaa business data for his role at Tata Cliq.
Tata Cliq, Nykaa, Flipkart's Myntra, Amazon Fashion and Reliance Ajio are direct competitors across the fashion, beauty and accessories business.
