Another gaming industry executive is facing legal action over accepting a new role with a competitor.
This time, the man in question is Washington resident Judah Huffman. According to LinkedIn, Huffman recently started a new role with DraftKings as director of social and community (sportsbook). Prior to that, Huffman spent two years as the director of social media for PrizePicks.
In a lawsuit filed in Western Washington District Court, PrizePicks alleged that Huffman absconded with company trade secrets and violated his one-year non-compete agreement with the company by going to a competitor.
Huffman allegedly uploaded docs to ChatGPT
Per the suit, Huffman used ChatGPT to analyze the enforceability of his noncompete earlier this year after receiving an offer to go work for DraftKings in a position that paid $200,000 a year. Additionally, PrizePicks claimed that forensic evidence showed that Huffman uploaded a number of proprietary PrizePicks documents to his personal ChatGPT, including a “highly sensitive brand planning document” in addition to a document of team goals for 2025.
PrizePicks claims that Huffman signed an employment offer from DraftKings on May 2 with a revised salary offer of $210,000 a year, which PrizePicks suggested came as the result of Huffman sharing proprietary information.
“We are taking swift steps to ensure that our trade secrets and innovations are safeguarded,” said Elisa Richardson, spokesperson for PrizePicks.
The filing states that Huffman put in his notice with PrizePicks on May 5. In the following days, he allegedly met with a number of high-ranking PrizePicks executives, including CEO Mike Ybarra and founder Adam Wexler, but declined to state what his new role was and, at times, denied that he had a concrete plan for what was next for him.
When Huffman returned his company-issued laptop and phone, PrizePicks claims that evidence showed the “surgical” deletion of files, emails and chats that the company believes was done to cover up his behavior at the end of his tenure.
“Huffman’s misappropriation and disclosure of PrizePicks’ Trade Secrets to DraftKings, a competitor, were intentional, deliberate, and calculated and therefore willful and malicious, especially considering Huffman’s destruction of evidence,” the suit argued.
PrizePicks wants injunction to stop Huffman’s DraftKings job
PrizePicks is suing Huffman for breach of contract, violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act and breach of fiduciary duty. Additionally, the Georgia-based company is seeking a temporary injunction prohibiting Huffman from working for DraftKings or utilizing any trade secrets he may have taken from PrizePicks.
The last time DraftKings was involved in litigation like this, the company was on the other side of the situation. At the start of 2024, DraftKings filed suit against former VIP executive Mike Hermalyn, who left his role with DraftKings to take a position leading the VIP team at Fanatics.
In the suit, DraftKings similarly alleged that Hermalyn violated his non-compete and stole trade secrets. A Massachusetts District Court judge granted a partial injunction, limiting the nature of Hermalyn’s role with Fanatics, and the parties eventually settled shortly before Hermalyn’s non-compete was set to expire.
SBC Americas reached out to Huffman and DraftKings for comment on the case but had not received any responses at the time of publication.
