Acer Sues Former CEO Gianfranco Lanci

One might say that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, even though it has definitely been a while since the motive behind Acer's latest action arose.

Basically, Acer has sued former chief executive officer Gianfranco Lanci over alleged breaching of a non-compete clause.

Details are scarce, but the bottom line is that Acer is none too happy about the new job Lanci found and the implications it has for the IT industry at large.

For those that don't remember, Lanci became a consultant for Lenovo some months ago, where he was and still is meant to help the consumer business grow.

"As a consultant to us, Gianfranco brings years of expertise and insights to Lenovo that will help us strengthen our growing global consumer business,” said Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang last year.

“Talented people are joining Lenovo because of our commitment to the PC industry, outstanding momentum and optimism about the future. We will continue to strengthen our company by building the best global team in the industry."

Currently, neither Acer nor Lanci have offered any comment on this new lawsuit, but it is fairly clear that, like all legal tussles tend to, it will take some time for everything to be sorted out.

It doesn't help the situation that Lanci did not leave Acer under the most candid of conditions.

The man left the PC company after alleged disagreements with the board of directors over what direction should be taken.

“I said, ‘Look, it is not de-Taiwanization,’” he reportedly said last year. “It is just globalization. If we want to be in the top three [PC makers] in the next three to five years, we need to be a global company and we need to leverage resources wherever they are.”

The lawsuit has been submitted to the Italian courts, but no date seems to have been placed for whatever hearing or meeting is supposed to happen first.