Palantir must arbitrate claims against ex-staffers who formed rival firm, judge says
12/05/2026 21:12
By Daniel Wiessner May 12 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday said Palantir Technologies must arbitrate claims that three of its former engineers used the software company's secret information to launch "copycat" firm Percepta AI, instead of pursuing the case in court. U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken rejected Palantir's claim that because it is only seeking an injunction against defendants Hirsh Jain, Radha Jain and Joanna Cohen, and not other types of relief, the lawsuit filed in October could remain in court. Palantir alleges that Percepta CEO Hirsh Jain, co-founder Radha Jain, and Cohen were entrusted with Palantir’s source code and customer data and breached agreements they signed with the company to safeguard that information. Palantir and a lawyer for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Percepta is owned by venture capital firm General Catalyst and was publicly unveiled last October. Oetken in February blocked Radha Jain and Hirsh Jain, who are not related, from soliciting Palantir's employees to work at Percepta pending the outcome of the case, but declined to stop them from working at Percepta. The judge also barred Cohen from breaching a confidentiality agreement she had signed with Palantir. The defendants then moved in March to send the case to arbitration, citing agreements they had signed with Palantir requiring both sides to arbitrate any claims arising out of their employment. Palantir argued that the agreement contained an exception for cases in which only injunctive relief is being sought, such as the company's lawsuit against its ex-employees. But Oetken on Tuesday said that provision only applied if a party went to court seeking to enforce the agreement to arbitrate itself. "In other words, neither party is permitted to bring suit over claims, like those here, that arise from Defendants’ employment with Palantir," he wrote. The case is Palantir Technologies v. Jain, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 25-CV-8985. For Palantir: Harris Mufson of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher For the defendants: Steven Feldman of Latham & Watkins Read more: Palantir sues engineers who left to form 'copycat' Percepta AI US judge blocks ex-Palantir staffers from poaching workers for new AI firm (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)