Kasowitz Defeats Amazon Robotics' Motion for Summary Judgment

Kasowitz Benson Torres, as counsel to Vietnamese company Gilimex, Inc., has defeated a motion for summary judgment brought by Amazon Robotics, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., in Gilimex’s lawsuit pending in the Southern District of New York.  Gilimex has asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty, intentional misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices arising out of the parties’ decade-long relationship pursuant to which Gilimex manufactured specially designed storage pods for use in Amazon’s warehouse distribution centers.  Gilimex is seeking to recover more than $100 million in damages, potentially trebled under applicable law, and the case will now proceed to trial.
 
In denying Amazon’s motion, the Court found that a reasonable jury could find a breach of fiduciary duty based on, among other things, Amazon’s alleged knowledge that it induced Gilimex to rely on Amazon’s representations based on the parties’ “strategic partnership,” and Gilimex’s claims that Amazon made “self-interested misrepresentations and concealments” that ran contrary to that duty.  The Court further found that a reasonable jury could find in favor of Gilimex’s claims regarding intentional misrepresentation and unfair trade practices, including that Amazon’s alleged promises of a “hopeful upside and continued partnership[,] were materially false when made and were made to induce” Gilimex’s continued manufacturing for Amazon.
 
The Kasowitz Benson Torres team representing Gilimex is led by partners Marc E. Kasowitz and Edward E. Filusch and includes partners Victor J. Brienza and ThucMinh Nguyen, and associates Dustin J. Lee and Michael C. Pecorini.