Vedanta-backed Sterlite Tech's shares fall 1.5% after US court slaps $96-mn penalty in trade secrets case

Sterlite Technologies has said that it will challenge the ruling “aggressively.”

Vedanta Group-backed Sterlite Technologies shares fell 1.5 percent after a US court ordered a $96 million (Rs 806 crore) penalty on the firm in a trade secretes case. On August 16, BSE data on 2:40 pm showed that Sterlite Tech shares were trading 1.5 percent lower at Rs 133.10 apiece. According to a Reuters report, the US court ordered the fine on August 12. The ruling said that Sterlite Technologies will have to pay $96 million to Italian cable-making giant Prysmian Group.

According to the Reuters report, the Italian company had filed the case back in 2021. In the lawsuit, Prysmian Group had claimed that a former senior employee Stephen Szymanski took trade secrets to his new employer.

The court battle, which went on for three years, concluded on August 9 and the verdict was pronounced on August 12. Szymanski had joined Sterlite Tech in challenge 2020.

A South Carolina jury found in favour of Prysmian following a three-week jury trial in South Carolina’s District Court.

According to a statement by Prysmian, Sterlite was found guilty of taking thousands of pages of their direct competitor’s. “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,” Prysmian said in a statement on its official website.

“This case came down to the basic principle of right versus wrong, and we are pleased that the jury came to this decision,” said Andrea Pirondini, Prysmian North America CEO. “It was clear that we had a solid case, and the jury decision confirms how America looks at the protection of trade secrets. 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.”

Meanwhile, Sterlite Technologies has said that it will challenged the ruling “aggressively.”