Trade Secret Lawsuit: Pfizer Says Former Employee Stole Confidential Documents

Pfizer has recently filed a lawsuit against one of its former employees, Chun Xioa Li, alleging that she stole trade secrets and misled Pfizer about her reasons for doing so before resigning from the company. In a brief that was filed on November 23, Pfizer alleges that Chun Xioa Li uploaded over 12,000 documents to her private Google Drive account, including documents related to the company’s COVID-19 vaccine as well as documents relating to other confidential drugs that Pfizer is working to produce.

Chun Xioa Li first began working for Pfizer in 2006 as an associate director of statistics in its global product development group. Li originally worked from China but joined the company’s facility in La Jolla, CA in 2016. Pfizer began investigating Li’s behavior in November prior to her resignation, and the lawsuit alleges that Li intentionally misled the company regarding her intentions behind uploading documents to her Google Drive account. Pfizer claims to have provided Li with multiple opportunities to explain her actions and reveal the location of the missing files. After Li allegedly declined to do so, Pfizer chose to take legal action. In the lawsuit filed against Li, Pfizer is seeking financial recovery from the losses that have arisen from having its trade secrets exposed in addition to a temporary restraining order against Li.

Chun Xioa Li resigned from her position at Pfizer effective November 24. Analysis of her Pfizer email account has revealed that Li had received a job offer from Xencor prior to her resignation from Pfizer, but Li has not confirmed whether or not she ever accepted this position.