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Local Florida Printer Sues, Alleging Fraud And Theft!i
Tervis is facing a federal lawsuit filed by another Southwest Florida company that alleges fraud and breaking a non-disclosure agreement to steal its trade secrets.
By Maggie Mendersk.
Trinity Graphic, the Manatee County printer that had been supplying the plastic inserts that personalize Tervis tumblers since 2010, says the drinkware company pressured Trinity to invest in equipment and then broke a confidentiality agreement to give the printer’s trade secrets to a larger, cheaper printer, according to the lawsuit filed late last month in the U.S. District Court in Tampa.
Robert Smithson, the chairman of Trinity Graphic, declined to comment and referred questions to his attorney, Jonathan Pollard of Fort Lauderdale, who said he was unable to elaborate on the case on Monday.
Tervis denied any unethical actions.
“Tervis does not comment specifically on pending litigation, but we hold ourselves to the highest ethical and legal standards, and will vigorously defend any claim to the contrary,” Tervis president Rogan Donelly said in a news release. He declined a request for an interview.
The 33-page lawsuit outlines an eight-year history that begins with the leaders of the two companies meeting at a networking event and ends with the printer teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after losing two of its trade secrets to Louisville-based Southern Graphics Inc. and SGS International LLC, which also are listed as defendants in the suit.
The lawsuit claims instances of questionable behavior, such as a factory tour in 2011 during which a Tervis official allegedly lagged behind to copy down model numbers of printers. The document also alleges that after Trinity shared its trade secrets with Tervis, the drinkware company violated a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement and shared the information with Southern Graphics.
“As a result of their misconduct, Tervis and Southern have reaped tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten profits, while Trinity has been left teetering on the brink of bankruptcy,” the lawsuit claims.
Before 2010, Tervis personalized its double-walled tumblers by inserting a single-sided, embroidered patch between the two walls.
After more than a year of development, Trinity had produced a two-sided plastic wrap using new techniques that both reduced static electricity in the printing process and aligned the front-and back images perfectly. The technology allowed Trinity to print sharper, clearer, double-sided images for the tumblers.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180205/local-printer-sues-tervis-alleging-fraud-theft
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