Atmel sued by former counsel, French employees

SAN FRANCISCO—Atmel Corp. disclosed its involvement in new litigations in a regulatory filing Monday (Aug. 10), including a suit filed against three former distributors and actions filed against the company by its former chief counsel and a group of former employees in France.

James M. Ross, Atmel's former general counsel, filed suits against the company on July 16 and 17, in Santa Clara County, Calif., and Delaware Chancery Court, respectively, Atmel said. The first suit challenges Ross's termination and claims wrongdoing by Atmel afterwards, Atmel said. The second suit seeks to enforce certain rights granted him under an indemnification agreement with the company, Atmel said. The company said it would defend itself vigorously in both actions.

On June 3, Atmel filed an action in Santa Clara County Superior Court against three of its now-terminated Asia-based distributors, NEL Group Ltd, Nucleus Electronics Ltd. (NEHK) and TLG Electronics Ltd., the company said. It said it seeks to recover $8.5 million plus applicable interest and attorneys fees, the company said.

On June 9, NEHK separately sued Atmel in Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleging that Atmel's suspension of shipments to the distributor following its appearance on the Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List breached the companies' distributor agreement. NEHK also alleges libel and other charges against Atmel and is seeking damages of more than $10 million, Atmel said.

On July 24, 56 former employees of Atmel filed claims in a French labor court, claiming that the company's 2005 sale of a fab in Nantes, France, to components supplier XybyBus SAS did not result in the transfer of their labor agreements and that they should still be considered Atmel employees. Each former employee is seeking benefits from Ateml or at least 45,000 euros and court costs, Atmel said. The company said the claims are similar to those filed by former Nantes employees against the company in 2006 and that it would vigorously defend itself.

Atmel (San Jose, Calif.) revealed the existence of the lawsuits in a quarterly report filed Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The litigations were first reported Monday by Filing Watch, a semiconductor-industry focused publication of Parallel Semiconductor LLC. Parallel Semiconductor is a provider of technology and IP services based in Phoenix.