Company Forgets Court Date, Loses $1.26 Billion in Default Judgment

A legal secretary at PepsiCo forgot to deal with a lawsuit notice that came across her desk. Consequently, PepsiCo's lawyers did not show up to court when expected. The presiding judge summarily handed down a $1.26 billion judgment against the corporation. Lynne Marek writes in The National Law Journal:

In court papers, PepsiCo claims it first received a legal document related to the case from the North Carolina agent on Sept. 15 when a copy of a co-defendant's letter was forwarded to Deputy General Counsel Tom Tamoney in PepsiCo's law department. Tamoney's secretary, Kathy Henry, put the letter aside and didn't tell anyone about it because she was "so busy preparing for a board meeting," PepsiCo said in its Oct. 13 motion to vacate.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Price-to-PepsiCo-for-Not-law-3214509113.html?x=0&.v=1 | Image: FBI

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Unbelievable!! I can't image that she forget the important message! that's huge amount of lost! Always be aware of important message to give the supervisor no matter what!
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Rather than being fired, she will likely get a lengthy paid vacation and a rather healthy raise. She is the fallguy for the legal department. Companies are not legally responsible for the mistakes of low level employees. The judgement will be set aside and the trial rescheduled.
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