US court turns down Vedanta-backed firm’s plea

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.