Prysmian wins lawsuit against Sterlite Technologies: Sterlite to pay 810Cr in damages for violating trade secrets norms

Prysmian wins lawsuit against Sterlite Technologies

Aug 19, 2024


An American court has ordered Sterlite Technologies’ overseas arm to pay USD 96.5 million, about Rs 810 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 USD 200,000 penalty on Stephen Szymanski, Sterlite Technologies Inc (STI) Executive Vice President for Americas Region, for misappropriation of trade secrets of Prysmian. “This case came down to the basic principle of right versus wrong, and we are pleased that the jury came to this decision,” mentions Andrea Pirondini, Prysmian North America CEO in a press release.

On August 9, 2024, a South Carolina jury found in favor of Prysmian following a three-week jury trial in U.S. District Court in Columbia, South Carolina. The jury found that Sterlite was unjustly enriched by taking Prysmian’s trade secrets and awarded $96,500,000 in damages against Sterlite Technologies, Inc. In addition, the jury found that Stephen Szymanski had been unjustly enriched by misappropriating Prysmian’s trade secrets and awarded $200,000 against Mr. Szymanski, personally. Mr. Szymanski ran Prysmian’s optical fiber cable business in North America, and departed Prysmian for Sterlite, a direct competitor, in August 2020. Prysmian filed its lawsuit in June 2021, accusing its former executive of misappropriating trade secrets and taking them to his new employer Sterlite, a direct competitor. Sterlite and Szymanski denied that they had taken anything from Prysmian. At trial, Prysmian ultimately proved that Sterlite had taken thousands and thousands of pages of Prysmian’s confidential information and trade secrets. The materials in Sterlite’s possession included information about Prysmian’s customers, information about Prysmian’s newest products, and information about Prysmian’s plans to expand its manufacturing plants. Much of the information was found in the possession of not just Szymanski and Sterlite, but also in the possession of executives at Sterlite’s global headquarters in Pune, India.

What is Prysmian Sterlite Case

The case involving Mr. Szymanski and Prysmian highlights a significant legal battle in the highly competitive optical fiber industry. Mr. Szymanski, who formerly led Prysmian’s optical fiber cable business in North America, left the company in August 2020 to join Sterlite, a direct competitor. In June 2021, Prysmian filed a lawsuit against Mr. Szymanski, alleging that he had misappropriated trade secrets and taken confidential information from Prysmian to his new role at Sterlite.

During the trial, Prysmian demonstrated that Sterlite had acquired thousands of pages of Prysmian’s confidential information and trade secrets. Despite Sterlite and Szymanski’s denials of any wrongdoing, the court found that significant proprietary information had been transferred to Sterlite, which likely played a role in the competitive positioning of Sterlite against Prysmian. This case underscores the critical importance of safeguarding trade secrets, especially in industries where technological advancements and proprietary knowledge are key competitive factors.

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