VMware sues former COO Rajiv Ramaswami for joining Nutanix

San Francisco, Dec 30 : Enterprise software major VMware has filed a lawsuit against its former Chief Operating Officer Rajiv Ramaswami after rival Nutanix appointed him as as President and Chief Executive Officer earlier this month.
VMware alleged Ramaswami breached his legal and contractual duties and obligations to the company.
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara, VMware said on Monday.
In a strong rebuttal, Nutanix on Tuesday called VMware’s action “nothing more than an unfounded attempt to hurt a competitor and we intend to vigorously defend this matter in court.” VMware alleged that Ramaswami failed to honour his fiduciary and contractual obligations to the company.
“For at least two months before resigning from the company, at the same time he was working with senior leadership to shape VMware’s key strategic vision and direction, Mr. Ramaswami also was secretly meeting with at least the CEO, CFO, and apparently the entire Board of Directors of Nutanix, Inc. to become Nutanix’s Chief Executive Officer. He joined Nutanix as its CEO only two days after leaving VMware,” VMware said.