Jury Awards Coupled Products Damages and Fees in Breach of Contract Trial Against Navistar International
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., Dec. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Coupled Products, LLC, a Michigan-based automotive supplier of tube and hose assemblies, won a significant award in a jury verdict in an Oakland County Circuit Court last week in a breach of contract lawsuit it filed against Navistar International Corporation. The jury granted Coupled Products a substantial award for damages, agreeing that Navistar breached a 2010 supply agreement. Rodger Young and Steven Susser of Farmington Hills-based Young & Susser handled the matter for Coupled Products.
Prior to the filing, the two companies enjoyed a decades-long commercial relationship, with Navistar buying brake and air-conditioning lines from Coupled Products. SG Industries, a Northbrook, Illinois-based company, acquired Coupled Products from Dana Corporation in 2007.
In early 2010, Navistar and Coupled Products signed a short-term supply agreement for parts made in Coupled Products' plants in Indiana and Ohio. Prior to its natural expiration, Navistar cancelled the agreement, leaving Coupled Products with numerous unshipped parts and significant unrecovered costs. Unable to resolve the dispute, Coupled Products filed a lawsuit in July of 2010. "Navistar was an important partner of ours at the time," said Brad Ginsberg, one of the principals of SG Industries. "We would have preferred to have settled the dispute outside of the courtroom, but we had to protect our employees and our assets, even if it meant utilizing our legal system as a last resort."
"Navistar is a strong and well-respected US-based company," said Ginsberg. "They make excellent trucks and military vehicles and we certainly enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to play a role in that process. We recognize that this was a difficult situation for both companies and we wish them the best as we move into what we expect will be a great 2012."
SOURCE Coupled Products, LLC
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