US court orders Vedanta Group-backed Sterlite Tech to pay USD 96.5 mn to Prysmian

New Delhi: An American court has ordered Vedanta Group-backed Sterlite Technologies’ overseas arm to pay $96.5 million, about Rs810 crore, in damages to US-based Prysmian for violating trade secrets norms, according to a regulatory filing and plaintiff’s statement.

Additionally, the court has awarded $200,000 penalty on Stephen Szymanski, Sterlite Technologies Inc (STI) Executive Vice President for Americas Region, for misappropriation of trade secrets of Prysmian.

STI is the US subsidiary of Sterlite Technologies (STL), which has contested the judgment and may file an appeal against it. Prysmian in a statement said a South Carolina jury on August 9 ordered in favour of Prysmian following a three-week trial in the district court of Columbia, South Carolina.

“The jury found that Sterlite was unjustly enriched by taking Prysmian’s trade secrets and awarded $96.5 million in damages against Sterlite Technologies, Inc. In addition, the jury found that Stephen Szymanski had been unjustly enriched by misappropriating Prysmian’s trade secrets,” Prysmian said in the statement dated August 12.

Prysmian further said that the court awarded $200,000 penalty against Szymanski, personally. “Szymanski ran Prysmian’s optical fibre cable business in North America, and departed Prysmian for Sterlite, a direct competitor, in August 2020,” the statement said.

Szymanski joined STI in September 2020. STL in a regulatory filing on August 10 had informed BSE that it is not a party to this dispute neither are any claims being made against it.

“STI believes the judgment is not supported by the testimony and evidence presented at trial and intends to vigorously pursue all available post-trial remedies including an appeal,” the STL filing said.

STL had posted a consolidated loss of Rs48 crore and decline of about 20 per cent in revenue from operations at Rs1,218 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2024.