Nortel Networks has snagged another executive from Motorola. On Thursday, the Brampton, Ontario, telecommunications equipment company announced that it has hired Dennis Carey as executive vice president of corporate operations. Carey had most recently served as executive vice president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Motorola's Integrated Electronic Systems Group.

The two companies were involved in a brief legal dispute last year after Nortel announced it had chosen Motorola's former chief operating officer, Mike Zafirovski, as its next CEO. Citing non-compete agreements, Motorola sued Zafirovski in October. The dispute was settled a few days later when Nortel agreed to pay US$11.5 million to end the matter.

Under the terms of that October settlement, Zafirovski and Nortel agreed not to recruit Motorola employees.

Carey resigned from Motorola in November, but his hiring apparently does not violate the terms of this agreement, according to Patricia Vernon, a Nortel spokeswoman. "Motorola is aware of this appointment and there are no issues," she said.

In his new job, Carey will be in charge of a number of departments having to do with Nortel's corporate operations, including human resources and information services.

Carey joined Motorola in November 2002 after serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Home Depot U.S.A. Previously he had worked at AT&T and General Electric Co.