A commercial painting contractor is seeking court intervention after alleging that a former employee took confidential business information and company property upon her abrupt resignation. The complaint was filed by E. Turman and Company, Inc., doing business as Turman Commercial Painters, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on April 24, 2026, naming Alison Maxwell as the defendant.
According to the verified complaint, Turman Commercial Painters (TCP) claims that Maxwell worked for the company from May 27, 2011 until her immediate resignation on April 9, 2026. At the time of her departure, Maxwell held roles including National Sales Project Manager, Estimator, and Office Lead at TCP’s Gahanna, Ohio office. The filing states that she was responsible for managing client relationships, pricing, job cost reporting, national sign restoration projects, fleet management, staffing activities, and had access to sensitive business data stored on both local and national servers.
The complaint details that TCP maintains extensive proprietary information described as ‘Protected Business Information,’ which includes marketing strategies, pricing structures, customer data, profit reports, and more. This information is protected through various security measures such as password-protected computers with multi-factor authentication and strict internal policies prohibiting unauthorized transmission or storage of confidential data.
TCP alleges that immediately prior to her resignation, Maxwell deleted over 7,000 emails from her corporate account—approximately 5,000 on April 7 and another 528 on April 8—and removed more than 8,000 files from the company’s local file server known as ‘Mary.’ These files reportedly included an email archive spanning years of correspondence as well as lists of business contacts and project documentation. Additionally, TCP claims that Maxwell sent several emails containing client requests for quotes and other sensitive documents from her work account to her personal Gmail address.
The company further asserts that Maxwell inserted an external USB drive into her work computer on April 7 for about 24 hours during which she created multiple files believed to contain protected business information. On April 14—a few days after Maxwell’s resignation—another employee discovered that the ‘Old Mary’ file server was missing from the Gahanna office. By April 23 TCP learned that Maxwell allegedly had possession of this device.
TCP’s legal arguments include claims under the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), stating: “Defendant’s actions… constitute violations of one or more provisions of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.” The complaint asserts that these trade secrets are not generally known or easily ascertainable by competitors or the public and provide economic value due to their secrecy. It also references alleged violations under Ohio state law for conversion—the wrongful retention or use of property—and criminal statutes related to theft of trade secrets.
TCP contends it has suffered harm due to these actions including loss of goodwill with clients and economic damages resulting from potential disclosure or misuse of its proprietary information. The company is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Maxwell to return all property belonging to TCP; prohibiting disclosure or use of any confidential information; restraining solicitation of TCP customers; compensatory damages exceeding $75,000; punitive damages; attorneys’ fees; costs associated with prosecuting this action; and any additional relief deemed appropriate by the court.
The attorneys representing E. Turman and Company are Drew C. Piersall (#0078085) and Teresa J. Hardymon (#0096721) from Littler Mendelson P.C., while Nicholas S. Bobb (0090537) and Daniell M. Crane (0098994) from Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter represent Alison Maxwell. The case is identified as Case No. 2:26-cv-505.
Source: 226cv00505_E_Turman_and_Company_Inc_v_Maxwell_Complaint_Southern_District_Ohio.pdf
