The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit partially reversed and partially affirmed a series of district court rulings arising from alleged corporate espionage between competitors in the pest control industry. The decision clarifies the scope of recoverable “loss” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) after Van Buren and underscores that causation requirements under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and state trade secret law depend on the remedy sought. Moxie Pest Control LLC, et al. v. Kyle Nielsen, et al., Case No. 24-4076 (10th Cir. Jan. 21, 2026) (Hartz, Moritz, Rossman, JJ.)

Moxie sued rival Aptive Environmental, alleging that Aptive employees bribed current and former Moxie sales representatives to obtain confidential sales data stored in Moxie’s password-protected SalesRoutes system. According to Moxie, Aptive used this data (particularly sales leaderboards) to recruit door-to-door sales representatives by portraying Aptive as the more lucrative employer. Moxie brought claims under the CFAA, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, DTSA, and Utah’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA).

The district court dismissed Moxie’s CFAA claim at the pleading stage, denied motions to compel broad damages discovery, and granted Aptive summary judgment on the RICO, DTSA, and UTSA claims based on a lack of causation. Moxie appealed.

CFAA claim reinstated

The Tenth Circuit found that the district court erred in dismissing Moxie’s CFAA claim for failure to plead a qualifying “loss.” The district court had interpreted Van Buren v. United States as requiring plaintiffs to allege a technological harm, such as damage to data or systems, to recover under the CFAA. The Tenth Circuit rejected that interpretation, explaining that Van Buren addressed what conduct constitutes a CFAA violation, not the scope of recoverable loss once a violation has occurred.

Under the statute’s plain language, “loss” includes reasonable costs incurred in responding to an offense or conducting a damage assessment. Moxie’s allegations that it spent more than $5,000 investigating the unauthorized access (specifically identifying the perpetrators, methods, and scope of access) fell squarely within that definition. The Tenth Circuit emphasized that investigative costs aimed at understanding the breach itself are recoverable, even absent data corruption or system impairment.

Discovery rulings affirmed

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Moxie’s motions to compel expansive damages discovery. While acknowledging that some requested information could be relevant, the Court concluded that the district court acted within its discretion by limiting initial disclosures and inviting more targeted follow-up discovery. Moxie’s failure to pursue narrower discovery after the district court’s ruling weighed against a finding of abuse of discretion.

Trade secret and RICO claims

The Tenth Circuit agreed that Moxie failed to establish causation sufficient to sustain its RICO claim or to recover unjust-enrichment damages under the DTSA and UTSA. Evidence showing that Aptive sought Moxie’s data, used it in recruitment meetings, and experienced revenue growth during the same period amounted to correlation, not proof that the misappropriation caused Aptive’s profits. Without evidence tying the stolen data to actual financial gain, unjust-enrichment theories failed.

However, the [...]

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