Prysmian awarded $96.5 million in trade secrets lawsuit against Sterlite

On August 14, Sterlite Technologies Inc. announced that it will appeal a $96.5 million verdict awarded to Prysmian Cables & Systems in a federal district court lawsuit.

The decision results from a lawsuit in which Prysmian accused former executive Stephen Szymanski of providing thousands of pages of trade secrets to Sterlite. Szymanski, who ran Prysmian’s optical fiber cable business in North America, left the company in 2020 and joined Sterlite the same year.

A jury found that both Sterlite and Szymanski were unjustly enrichened by misappropriating trade secrets. The jury also awarded $200,000 against Szymanski personally.

Prysmian North America CEO Andrea Pirondini said the company is pleased with the jury’s verdict against Sterlite.

“It was clear that we had a solid case, and the jury decision confirms how America looks at the protection of trade secrets.,” said Pirondini in a press release. “It also demonstrates we will not stand still when it comes to defending our confidential information and trade secrets, competing fairly in the marketplace, and doing right by our customers.”

Sterlite holds the position that the verdict is not supported by evidence or testimony and accused Prysmian of filing the case for anti-competitive purposes.

Sterlite managing director Ankit Agarwal said in a press release, “We remain as excited and committed as ever to serve our customers in America, and we do not intend for this verdict to interrupt our plans to grow our U.S. presence. As a company, we uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We believe the verdict is not supported by the testimony and evidence presented at the trial and intend to appeal and vigorously pursue all available post-trial remedies.”

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