Peterborough manufacturer SoClean has settled a civil suit with a former distributor out of court.
SoClean manufactures devices for cleaning continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines, which are used by people with sleep apnea.
SoClean2 Pty Ltd sued the company through the United States District Court in Massachusetts in April of 2018 for $10 million of lost profits after SoClean terminated its distribution contract with the company.
The details of the settlement are not public, but H. Joseph Hamline, attorney for SoClean, notified the court on July 24 that both sides had come to a settlement agreement, and that they intended to file a motion to dismiss the case.
On Aug. 8, attorneys for both sides filed to dismiss the case with prejudice – meaning the matter cannot be brought back to the court again. Both parties agreed to also waive all rights of appeal.
The contract between the two companies under dispute was terminated in 2018. The five-year contract originally gave SoClean2 distribution rights of SoClean devices in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan.
In court documents, SoClean alleged it ended the relationship due to SoClean2 failing to pay invoices in a timely manner, and was understaffed and underfunded to fill the contract terms satisfactorily. SoClean2 alleges those claims were pretext to end the relationship so SoClean could move forward with more direct sales to customers.
SoClean filed a countersuit, alleging representatives of SoClean2 made an illegal audio recording during a meeting with SoClean representatives without their knowledge or consent.
Both the original claim and counterclaims are requested to be dismissed.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.